Department for Transport

Buses: Tyres

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2017 to Question 117278 on buses: tyres, which organisations have been approached by his Department to commission the research referred to in that answer.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2017 to Question 117278 on buses:tyres, what progress his Department has made on commissioning the research referred to in that answer.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2017 to Question 117278 on buses: tyres, what estimate he has made of the cost of commissioning the research referred to in that answer.

Jesse Norman: Holding answer received on 26 February 2018



The Government is committed to using robust evidence to guide policy decisions. To that end the Department for Transport approached Atkins/CH2M, the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), WSP (and their partner Frazer Nash), Arup and Pell Frischmann through the Highways England Procurement Framework to commission scientific research into the effects of chronological age on the integrity of tyres. The first tender exercise in June 2016 received no bids. Following further discussions in September 2016 with potential suppliers to improve their understanding of our requirements, a second tender exercise was undertaken. However, this received only one response in December 2016 which did not address the research questions raised. The Department subsequently engaged direct with TRL who were invited to submit a formal bid in December 2017. After careful consideration, TRL was awarded a 12-month contract to the value of £250,000 in January 2018. This was announced to the House on 1 March 2018. The findings will be published.

Driving Instruction: Training

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend Potential Driving Instructor licenses for people who were unable to take the Approved Driving Instructor part 3 test within the six month period because of delays to the roll-out of that test.

Jesse Norman: Regulation 14a of the Motor Cars (Driving Instruction) Regulations 2005 states that the length of a trainee licence is for a period of 6 months, which cannot be extended. The Secretary of State for Transport therefore has no power to extend the length of a trainee licence.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the effect of people paying to recover and store their stolen vehicles on the level of (a) individual insurance premiums and (b) general motor insurance costs.

Jesse Norman: The Secretary of State has made no estimate of the effect of people paying to recover and store their stolen vehicles on either individual insurance premiums or on general motor insurance costs. Motor insurers are responsible for setting the terms and conditions for the policies that they offer. They use a wide range of criteria to assess the potential risk a driver poses including the driver’s age, type of vehicle being insured which includes its group rating and level of security, postal area where the applicant lives and their driving experience and claims history. Motor insurance is a very competitive market so it often pays for consumers to shop around in order to achieve lower premiums.

Department for Transport: Overtime

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many hours of overtime have been worked by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The number of overtime hours worked by staff in the Department (including Central Department and Executive Agencies) in each of the last 12 months is in the attached table.



UIN 128904 - Table showing overtime breakdown
(Word Document, 36.28 KB)

M60: Repairs and Maintenance

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the works on the westbound carriageway of the M60 will be concluded.

Jesse Norman: Highways England is opening the scheme is phases with two key sections already opened. Full completion is expected by the end of summer 2018.

M60: Repairs and Maintenance

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the original anticipated date was for the conclusion of smart motorway construction work on the westbound carriageway of the M60.

Jesse Norman: In Highways England’s Delivery Plan for roads period 2015-2020 the M60 Junction 8 to M62 Junction 20 Smart Motorway Scheme was forecast to be open to traffic in quarter 2 of the 2017/18 financial year. In August 2017, Highways England published their Delivery Plan Update (Supplementary Annex) and the construction programme for this scheme was extended so that additional works including flood mitigation and pavement resurfacing could be completed under the existing restrictions. This will help avoid the need for future additional network access in this location. Highways England is opening the scheme in phases. Junction 18 – 20 of the M62 and Junction 8 – 10 of the M60 are now open. Full completion is expected by the end of summer 2018.

Sexual Harassment: Public Transport

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of the practice of up-skirting on public transport.

Joseph Johnson: We do not have an assessment of the prevalence of this practice for the whole of public transport. ‘Upskirting’ is likely to be a covert act by perpetrators to avoid challenge or detection, so reporting numbers are likely to be low. However, for the rail network, the British Transport Police (BTP) has seen an increase in reports following the joint BTP / Transport for London (TfL) "Report it to stop it" campaign, which heightened awareness and increased victim confidence to report. BTP has successfully secured a number of prosecutions under the common law offence of ‘outraging public decency’.

Great Western Railway Line

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, the number of technical incidents registered on bimodal trains on the Great Western Mainline since their inception.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Transport: Snow and Ice

Rachel Maclean: What steps his Department is taking to prepare transport infrastructure for severe winter weather.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Significant efforts have been made this year across the transport sectors, including road, rail and air, to boost resilience and preparedness. We continue to work closely with all key transport operators, the local government sector, salt suppliers and other key partners to ensure that disruption to our transport network are kept to a minimum.

Railways: South West

Johnny Mercer: Whether his Department plans to respond to the Peninsula Rail Task Force report and set out a rail strategy for the South West.

Joseph Johnson: I wrote to the Chair of the Peninsula Rail Task Force this week setting out the Governments response to the Task Force report.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Biofuels

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will undertake a review of the cost of wood pellets used to fuel biomass boilers.

Claire Perry: The level of support given to biomass in the Renewable Heat Incentive was last amended in September 2017, and the Department currently has no plans to undertake a review of wood pellet costs.

Paternity Leave

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has any plans to extend paid paternity leave.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government does not currently have any plans to extend the period of paid Paternity Leave. As part of the evaluation of Shared Parental Leave and Pay we are collecting information on the take up of paternity benefits, including survey data on the take up of paternity leave and pay, which will inform the development of policy in this area.

Parental Leave

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2017 to Question 68339, on Parental Leave: Males, what the timetable is for his Department to publish the results of its review of Shared Parental Leave and Pay in 2018.

Andrew Griffiths: We have started to evaluate the Shared Parental Leave and Pay schemes and will gather and analyse information from a variety of sources. Subject to the progress of data collection, we anticipate publishing findings in Spring 2019.

Energy: Prices

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the average cost of transmission and other network charges per MWh in (a) the UK, (b) France, (c) Ireland, (d) Norway, (e) Germany and (f) the Netherlands.

Claire Perry: Eurostat collate data on the network charge component of electricity prices paid by different sized domestic and non-domestic customers in Europe[1]. For example, table 1 sets out the most recent available data on the amount paid on average by medium-sized domestic consumers towards network costs. This usage is consistent with the typical domestic consumption value used by Ofgem.Table 1: Electricity network cost paid by medium-sized domestic customers, July – December 2016 (£/MWh) ElectricityUK40France42Ireland55Norway58Germany56Netherlands47  In considering any international comparisons, it should be noted that the individual components of network charges can vary by country.[1] Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/data/database

Electricity Interconnectors

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps are being taken to assess the (a) short and (b) long-term effect on UK power generation of a growth in interconnection.

Claire Perry: The Government is committed to making sure consumers have secure, affordable and clean energy now and in the future, and the role of interconnection alongside other technologies in meeting this ambition in the short and long term was set out in our Clean Growth Strategy. Part of this strategy is ensuring that different technologies compete against each other. For example, the Capacity Market is delivering secure supplies of electricity to homes and businesses through technology neutral auctions that result in a mix of reliable capacity. As part of this, interconnectors help deliver energy security while reducing costs for consumers through increased competition. This year’s auction, in which around 2GW of new interconnector capacity cleared, saw the lowest price yet in the history of the capacity market. We assess the outcome of every Capacity Market auction to see what it means for Great Britain’s future energy security.

Energy Supply

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of UK energy supply the Government estimates will be comprised of interconnected capacity by (a) 2020, (b) 2030 and (c) 2040.

Claire Perry: The proportion of electricity supplied by electricity imports in 2020 is expected to be 7.6%. Projections for the power sector up to 2035 are published in the BEIS Energy and Emissions Projections 2017, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2017 Up to 2020, the reference scenario reflects current power sector policies. Beyond 2020, the reference scenario includes assumptions that go beyond current Government policy. The results do not indicate a preferred outcome and should be treated as illustrative.

Energy: Prices

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on average policy costs per MWh in (a) the UK, (b) France, (c) Ireland, (d) Norway, (e) Germany and (f) the Netherlands.

Claire Perry: Eurostat collate data on the average gas and electricity prices paid by different sized domestic and non-domestic customers in Europe. [1] Table 1 below sets out the amount paid towards “environmental taxes and levies, and VAT” on the gas and electricity prices paid by medium-sized domestic customers. Data excluding VAT is not published. Table 1: Environmental taxes and levies, and VAT on gas and electricity prices paid by medium-sized domestic customers, January – June 2017 (£/MWh) GasElectricityUK336France1452Ireland1040NorwayData unavailable41Germany14143Netherlands3536Source: BEIS Quarterly Energy Prices, available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/international-energy-price-comparisons. Data for Norway converted to £/MWh from Eurostat data available online at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/data/database. The data above focuses on the costs of policies. However, actions taken in the UK to tackle emissions have helped deliver savings on energy bills for households as energy efficiency savings have more than offset the cost of financial support provided for developing low-carbon technologies – delivering a net bill saving of £14 on average in 2016. [1] Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/data/database.

Electricity Generation

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the contribution to the economy of UK-based energy generation; and what recent estimate he has made of the number of jobs supported in the UK by that industry.

Claire Perry: As set out in table 1, the energy sector directly contributed 2.3% of GDP, or £40.2 billion, to the UK economy in 2016 and directly employed 178,000 people. Further jobs are supported indirectly, for example, an estimated 152,000 were employed in support of UK oil and gas extraction, while the ONS separately estimate that the low carbon electricity sector employed 40,500 in the supply chain. Table 1: Contribution to GDP and direct employment of the UK energy sector in 2016 Contribution to GDPEmploymentCoal extraction0.002%1,936Oil and gas extraction0.78%32,192Refining0.08%3,887Electricity1.03%87,277Gas0.37%47,723Nuclear fuel processing0.07%4,985Total2.33%178,000Source: Tables 1 and 2 of https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/631147/UK_Energy_in_Brief_2017_dataset.xls

Natural Gas: Storage

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to support an increase in UK-based gas storage.

Claire Perry: The UK consistently has one of the largest and most liquid gas markets in Europe with extensive import infrastructure and a diverse range of gas supply sources. This includes domestic production, pipelines from Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands, and liquefied natural gas terminals which can bring in gas from anywhere in the world. We are therefore well placed to manage gas supply risks and the Government has no plans to directly support an increase in UK-based gas storage.

Research: Finance

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much the UK has invested in research and development as a percentage of GDP in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides annual estimates of Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the UK. This is the preferred measure of R&D activity by international standards, as defined in the Frascati Manual 2015 (see: http://www.oecd.org/publications/frascati-manual-2015-9789264239012-en.htm). The latest data covers the period 2010 to 2015, this shows that GERD as a percentage of GDP has increased from 1.64% in 2010, to 1.68% in 2015. Further information can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/researchanddevelopmentexpenditure/datasets/governmentexpenditureonresearchanddevelopment

Natural Gas: Prices

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to help reduce the likelihood of the UK experiencing future gas price spikes; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Whilst there is in-year variability in comparisons between UK gas prices and other European states, UK wholesale prices are generally consistent with the EU average.The UK benefits from a range of supply sources, including indigenous production, imports from Norway and the continent, storage and liquefied natural gas imports, all of which contribute to a diverse and liquid market. However, it is a normal and necessary market response for prices to rise in response to system tightness, driving a responsive and flexible supply response. The Government will continue to monitor our security of gas supply, including price volatility.

Energy: Industry

Sir Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people are employed in the energy sector; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The energy industries directly employed 178,000 people in 2016. Further jobs are supported indirectly, for example, an estimated 152,000 were employed in support of UK oil and gas extraction, while the ONS separately estimates that the low carbon electricity sector employed 40,500 in the supply chain. Source: Table 2 of UK Energy in Brief https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/631147/UK_Energy_in_Brief_2017_dataset.xls

Plastics

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential role of bioplastics in replacing non-biodegradable plastics.

Richard Harrington: We have been working closely with the British Plastics Federation and other major stakeholders to promote the sustainability of the plastics industry and encourage its contribution to the circular economy. In the recent Industrial Strategy White Paper we committed to publishing a new UK Bioeconomy Strategy. This will provide a framework within which government, industry and the research community can support the development of bio-based products and processes, including bioplastics.

Industrial Disputes: Ballots

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on e-balloting pilots as recommended by the 2017 Knight Review.

Andrew Griffiths: Before responding to the Knight Review of electronic balloting for industrial action the Government is required by Section 4 of the Trade Union Act 2016 to “consult relevant organisations, including professionals from expert associations, to seek their advice and recommendations.” We are currently assessing the best means of obtaining this advice.

Living Wage: Young People

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of people under the age of 25 who are in full time work and are not in receipt of the National Living Wage.

Andrew Griffiths: The National Living Wage is applicable to those aged 25 and over.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Fairtrade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of his Department's spend on day-to-day goods has comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

Richard Harrington: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what organisations his Department has outsourced functions to since 2011.

Richard Harrington: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is the amalgamation of the former Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and was created in July 2016. Since the creation of BEIS the following functions have been outsourced:CGI IT UK Limited – Payroll Services;Capita Business Services Limited – Recruitment;Clarity Travel Management – Business Travel;My Civil Service Pension - Pensions Advice;UK Shared Business Services (UK SBS) - Financial Transaction Services;UK SBS – Procurement Services;Engie UK - Facilities Management Services;Shared Services Connect Limited – Financial Transaction Services;Iron Mountain – Document Storage;

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what percentage of workers employed by his Department belonged to a trade union in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Richard Harrington: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was created on 14 July 2016. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) were merged to create this new department. BEIS does not hold data on the number of workers employed by the department that belong to a trade union.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were directly employed on zero-hours contracts by his Department in each of the last eight years.

Richard Harrington: As the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was created in July 2016, eight years data is not available. In the period since then, BEIS has not directly employed its staff using zero-hours contracts.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what percentage of employees in his Department worked (a) in departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) at any other location in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

Richard Harrington: This information is not available. The majority of staff will work in departmental accommodation. Staff can work from other locations and from home to support flexible working where appropriate to do so. These arrangements are made at local level within the business so data is not centrally held.

Tree Planting: North of England

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on ensuring that the new Northern Forest ameliorates the aesthetic effect of national infrastructure.

Richard Harrington: Ministers from this Department have had no discussions with Ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on this topic.

Cars

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed by (a) producers of kit cars and (b) the supply chain for kit cars.

Richard Harrington: Production of kit cars is a small sub-sector of the automotive sector and it is not possible to isolate this sub-sector using the data sources available on employment numbers.

Students: Sick Leave

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department provides to postgraduate funding bodies which have no standard policy on paid sick leave for PhD students.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy expects all the public bodies it funds to have adequate arrangements in place to deal with sick leave for all individuals funded through their studentship programmes.

Ofgem: Codes of Practice

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2018 to Question 128990, on Warm Home Discount Scheme, if his Department will (a) undertake and (b) place in the Library a review of the Ofgem Confidence Code.

Claire Perry: The independent energy sector Regulator Ofgem administers the Confidence Code.This Code requires that a service provider must alert consumers to the possibility that if they move to certain suppliers, they could lose support from government energy support schemes such as the Warm Home Discount. Ofgem regularly reviews the Code to ensure it provides the right protections for consumers. In addition, Confidence Code accredited price comparison websites undergo annual audits and Ofgem conduct spot checks to monitor compliance with Confidence Code requirements. Where non-compliance is identified, Ofgem contacts the price comparison website and works with them to bring them into compliance.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Gaza: Fisheries

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2017 to Question 118941, on Gaza: Fisheries, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction of the temporary nine nautical mile limit to six nautical miles.

Alistair Burt: We have not made any specific assessment on this issue.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Overtime

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many hours of overtime have been worked by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months.

Sir Alan Duncan: Foreign and Commonwealth Office UK based staff claimed a total of 63,930 hours of overtime between 1 February 2017 and 31 January 2018 (staff may submit an overtime claim form up to three months from when the overtime was worked). The monthly breakdown is set out below:-Month (Year)Hours of OvertimeFebruary (17)4490March (17)4780April (17)5410May (17)4510June (17)5770July (17)4450August (17)4950September (17)3350October (17)8230November (17)8840December (17)6360January (18)2790Overtime is claimed by officers when they have worked above their conditioned hours with pre authorised Line Manager/Budget Holder approval to claim overtime. Staff may take time off in lieu instead of payment for overtime - these hours are not processed through payroll. ​The higher figures in October, November and December reflect increased claims due to crisis work (Monarch Airlines and Hurricanes).

Bahrain: Freedom of Expression

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of freedom of speech in Bahrain following the sentencing of the human rights activist Nabeel Rajab to five years in prison on 21 February 2018.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and our Embassy in Bahrain continue to monitor the case of Nabeel Rajab and have raised this with the Bahraini Government at the highest levels.In my public statement of 21 February I expressed my concerns at the further five year sentence handed to Mr Rajab and re-emphasised the UK's encouragement to Bahrain to protect freedom of expression for all of its citizens in line with its international obligations.

Nabeel Rajab

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterparts in the Bahraini Government on the sentencing of the human rights activist Nabeel Rajab to five years in prison on 21 February 2018.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and our Embassy in Bahrain continue to monitor the case of Nabeel Rajab and have raised this with the Bahraini Government at the highest levels.In my public statement of 21 February I expressed my concerns at the further five year sentence handed to Mr Rajab and re-emphasised the UK's encouragement to Bahrain to protect freedom of expression for all of its citizens in line with its international obligations.

Sri Lanka: Diplomatic Service

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner on the conduct of Sri Lanka’s Defence Attaché, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, at the High Commission on 4 February 2018.

Mark Field: The Government takes this incident very seriously and I remain deeply concerned. FCO officials made a number of representations to the Government of Sri Lanka both in Colombo and London in the period after 4 February. I spoke to Foreign Minister Marapana on 8 February about the matter and he left me in no doubt that the Sri Lankan government was also treating this incident with utmost seriousness.

Sri Lanka: Diplomatic Service

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with British Tamil organisations on the conduct of Sri Lanka’s Defence Attaché, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, at the High Commission on 4 February 2018.

Mark Field: ​FCO officials have met with a number of diaspora organisations to discuss matters including the incident on 4 February and the Defence Attache was subsequently ordered to return to Colombo for consultations. We regularly meet diaspora groups in this way to better understand their interests and concerns.

Sri Lanka: Diplomatic Service

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the conduct of Sri Lanka’s Defence Attaché, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, at the High Commission on 4 February 2018 with the standard expected by his Department of diplomatic guests.

Mark Field: ​I was deeply concerned by the incident. The Defence Attaché has returned to Colombo from London while the incident is thoroughly investigated. I spoke to Foreign Minister Marapana on 8 February and he left me in no doubt that Sri Lanka also takes this incident very seriously.

Sri Lanka: Diplomatic Service

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will withdraw the diplomatic papers and immediately expel Sri Lanka’s Defence Attaché, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, as a result of his conduct at the High Commission on 4 February 2018.

Mark Field: ​The Defence Attaché has returned to Colombo from London while the incident is thoroughly investigated by the Government of Sri Lanka. The British Government awaits the outcome of that investigation.

Sri Lanka: Diplomatic Service

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on expelling Sri Lanka’s Defence Attaché, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, as a result of his conduct at the High Commission on 4 February 2018.

Mark Field: ​This matter is being dealt with by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Government of Sri Lanka. It is not a matter for the Secretary of State for Home Affairs.

Iraq: Missing Persons

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding his Department has awarded to the International Commission on Missing Persons working in Iraq.

Alistair Burt: From August 2016 to March 2017, the International Commission on Missing Persons carried out a project in Iraq for which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided £75,000.

Iraq: Politics and Government

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance his Department is providing to ensure good governance and democracy in Iraq.

Alistair Burt: Through the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund, the British Government supports the Government of Iraq to ensure that the governance and delivery of services in areas newly liberated from Daesh are more effective, responsive and legitimate. We are working with local political institutions to support their delivery of services such as healthcare, water, electricity, and education, and to create new job opportunities. We are also implementing projects which aim to improve the capability and accountability of local governments, particularly in Basra, Salaheldin, Ninewah and Anbar. These projects assist in providing better and more responsive governance for the Iraqi people including through improved service delivery and community conflict resolution.We continue to encourage the Government of Iraq in their efforts to hold national elections on time this year (due 12 May) and ensure that these are inclusive, transparent and enable the Iraqi people to have their voice heard.

Iran: Prisoners

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he made representations to the Deputy Foreign Minister for Iran when he visited the UK on British nationals imprisoned in that country.

Alistair Burt: Holding answer received on 28 February 2018



​I raised all our dual-national cases when I met Deputy Foreign Minister Araghchi on 21 February. I will continue to raise these cases at the highest levels and at every opportunity

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has plans to meet with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to discuss the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Alistair Burt: Holding answer received on 28 February 2018



We remain very concerned about all our dual nationals detained in Iran, and continue to take action in line with what we believe will produce the best outcomes in their cases.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Politics and Government

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that those responsible for civilian deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo are held to account for their actions in the international courts.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is deeply concerned by the continuing violence in many parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo that is leading to civilian deaths. We frequently raise our concerns with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo since it has primary responsibility for bringing those responsible for unlawful killings to justice. Alongside our international partners we have called on the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate these crimes swiftly and bring the still unidentified perpetrators before national courts. The International Criminal Court is an independent body and a Court of last resort, which is complementary to national legal systems. It investigates potential crimes only when the domestic authorities are unwilling or unable to bring perpetrators of the most severe crimes to justice themselves.

EU Defence Policy: British Nationals Abroad

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2018 to Question 128168, on EU Defence Policy: British Nationals Abroad, if he will list the Orders In Council made under s.4B(2) of the International Organisations Act 1968 in respect of each of the organisations named in that Answer.

Sir Alan Duncan: With respect to the missions referred to in the response to PQ128168 (Naval Force for Somalia; Training Mission in Mali; Force Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Naval Force in the Mediterranean; Training Mission in Somalia; Monitoring Mission in Georgia; Advisory Mission in Ukraine; EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo; Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office in the Netherlands; and the Capacity Building Mission in Mali), there have been no Orders in Council made under s.4B(2) of the International Organisations Act 1968.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Internet

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of his Department’s cloud-hosting contracts have been awarded to (a) hyperscale cloud providers and (b) UK SMEs; and what the value of those contracts was in each of the last three years.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has placed one contract with UK Cloud Ltd, who are considered an SME. The FCO have zero Hyperscale contracts.The FCO Overall expenditure the last three Financial years is as follows:FY 14/15: £36,863FY 15-16: £152,093FY 16-17: £231,012

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Overtime

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many hours of overtime have been worked by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union is committed to ensuring staff maintain a work-life balance. The Department has a range of flexible working policies in place to avoid excess working hours. On occasion staff are required to work above their conditioned hours but all overtime is pre-agreed with line managers. Please note the below data relates to the month in which the claims were logged, they may not necessarily be the months when the overtime hours were worked.MonthOvertime Hours loggedFebruary 2017497.8March 2017486April 2017831.2May 2017439.06June 2017700.5July 2017555.5August 20171307.05September 20171102.2October 20171009.7November 2017398December 2017855.45January 2018835.04February 2018562.2

Department for Exiting the European Union: Fairtrade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what proportion of his Department's spend on day-to-day goods has comprised fair trade products since it was established.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union is fully committed to ethical procurement, but does not hold information at the level of detail required to answer the Question.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what organisations his Department has outsourced functions to since it was established.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union uses a number of shared services. This includes the following OGDs: Department for International Trade (Commercial), Ministry of Justice (Estates Management) and Cabinet Office (IT), and private companies: Shared Services Connect Limited (elements of Finance, Payroll, HR).

Department for Exiting the European Union: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what percentage of workers employed directly by his Department belonged to a trade union in each year since its formation.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department does not have a check-off facility for the deduction of trade union subscriptions from departmental employees pay, therefore a complete set of data to give an accurate figure for the percentage of employees who are trade union members for the period requested is not held by the Department.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were directly employed on zero-hours contracts by his Department in each of the last eight years.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union does not employ any staff on zero hours contracts.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many and what percentage of employees in his Department worked (a) in departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) at any other location in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department now has over 600 staff with all posts being London based, plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels from the UK Permanent Representation to the EU. DExEU does not have any designated home workers but ad hoc home working arrangements, as part of the Departments approach to flexible working practices, are managed locally and are therefore not held on central records.

Overseas Trade

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the oral contribution of 22 February 2018, Official Report, column 310, made by the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the evidential basis is for frictionless trade between the Republic and Northern Ireland being achievable through a widespread and liberal agreement in trade with the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The Joint Report issued by the UK and EU sets out our plan to address Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances and the border in the context of the wider UK-EU deep and special partnership. We want a deal that works for all parts of the UK. The Joint Report gives a clear commitment to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and retaining the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK. The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach, both agreed that it was their preference to achieve this through the overall future relationship between the UK and the EU. As set out in our position paper on Northern Ireland and Ireland, the UK Government set out two broad approaches to a future customs relationship with the EU; a highly streamlined customs arrangement between the UK and the EU, streamlining and simplifying requirements, leaving as few additional requirements on UK-EU trade as possible; and a new customs partnership with the EU, aligning our approach to the customs border in a way that removes the need for a UK-EU customs border.

Brexit

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to policy paper Draft Text For Discussion: Implementation Period, published by his Department on 21 February 218, what assessment he has made of the effect of the position set out in that paper on the continuation of (a) agreements on EU data adequacy and (b) other non-free trade agreements.

Mr Robin Walker: We have set out our proposed legal text to underpin the Implementation Period, a significant step towards agreement in March. Our text is designed to support the ongoing negotiation on the implementation period and puts forward practical solutions which will help deliver a smooth exit. The Government has been clear that this period will be based on the existing structure of EU rules and regulations [or EU law]. Therefore as adequacy decisions are made by the EU during the implementation period they will apply in UK law. Moreover, the EU (Withdrawal) Bill will convert the existing body of EU data protection law into UK law, this will enable transfers to be made in accordance with the twelve existing adequacy decisions. The UK position on the EU’s international agreements, that they should continue to apply to the UK during the implementation period, was set out in a Technical Note, published on 8th February. This is a matter for continued discussion with the EU.

Brexit

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2018 to Question 129032, on Brexit, for what reason the answer did not confirm in what circumstances his Department can comment on the existence of a leak inquiry; and whether there has been any recent change of policy in this regard.

Mr Robin Walker: It has been the policy of successive governments not to comment on leak inquiries. That policy remains the same today.

Department of Health and Social Care

Rare Diseases

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's policy paper, UK strategy for rare diseases: implementation plan for England, published on 29 January 2018, what steps he is taking to increase cross-border collaboration (a) within the UK and (b) between the UK and the EU in developing approaches to treatment and management of rare diseases.

Steve Brine: The activities described in the Department’s ‘UK Strategy for Rare Diseases: implementation plan for England’ are those that are shared between the Department and a number of partner organisations in implementing the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. This implementation plan applies to England only. The UK Rare Disease Policy Board, which has representation of all four United Kingdom nations, oversees the implementation of the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases across the UK. The UK Rare Disease Policy Board publishes on a biennial basis an update on the implementation activities across the whole of the UK. The next report was published on 28 February 2018 and will highlight, in greater detail, initiatives and achievements across the four nations over the past two years, as well as look at UK-wide developments and challenges in the rare diseases landscape that will be important in the forward look to 2020. The UK is involved in European Reference Networks, virtual centres of knowledge, skills and expertise in the field of rare diseases and complex conditions, which provide a platform to create partnerships between healthcare providers. The UK participates in 23 out of the 24 networks (involving 113 separate UK groups) and leads six networks.

Orphan Drugs

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that NHS England and NICE revise their appraisal criteria for the NICE Highly Specialised Technologies as a result of the Scottish Medicines Consortium’s review of the definition of orphan and ultra-orphan designation route to include condition prevalence criteria; and if he will ensure that they publish those prevalence criteria.

Steve Brine: The Government and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have no plans to review the criteria for the selection of topics for referral to NICE’s Highly Specialised Technologies (HST) programme. The topic selection criteria for HST are published at: https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-programmes/topic-selection

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for providers in (a) Oxford West and Abingdon constituency, (b) Oxford city, (c) Oxfordshire and (d) England.

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in the Crewe and Nantwich constituency.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in Leigh constituency.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) on 26 February 2018 to Question 128962.

Prescription Drugs: Children

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children under the ages of 18 and 13 respectively have been prescribed (a) antidepressants, (b) benzodiazepines and (c) z drugs in the last three years.

Steve Brine: The information is not available in the requested format. The table below shows the information reported by financial year, with partial data available for 2017/18. PeriodDrug GroupNumber of unique identifiable patientsProportion of items where patient details could be identifiedNumber of unique identifiable patients aged 0-12Number of unique identifiable patients aged 0-17April 2015 - March 2016Antidepressants6,826,82994.23%4,40668,571April 2016 - March 2017Antidepressants7,105,80896.63%4,57569,316April 2017 - December 2017Antidepressants6,734,50097.32%3,98759,207April 2015 - March 2016Benzodiazepines1,617,64791.06%12,16223,198April 2016 - March 2017Benzodiazepines1,635,12193.69%13,45424,330April 2017 - December 2017Benzodiazepines1,347,87294.59%12,05720,734April 2015 - March 2016Z-Drugs1,045,00793.13%192,509April 2016 - March 2017Z-Drugs1,037,88195.59%212,127April 2017 - December 2017Z-Drugs847,18496.34%241,397Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Prescription Drugs

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether prescriptions for antidepressants, benzodiazepines and z drugs are recorded in (a) prisons, (b) care homes for the elderly (c) children's homes and (d) any other institutions.

Steve Brine: The patient records for those living in those institutional settings should include a record of them having received prescriptions. However, this is information which is not collected and held centrally.

Prescription Drugs

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data is held by the NHS Business Services Authority on the prescribing of (a) antidepressants, (b) benzodiazepines and (c) z drugs.

Steve Brine: The following information is held by the NHS Business Services Authority in relation to the prescribing of antidepressants, benzodiazepines and z drugs: - The number of prescription items prescribed and dispensed in England for each category;- The number of prescription items prescribed and dispensed in the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney for each category;- The number of prescription items prescribed in the devolved authorities and dispensed in England;- Dispensing time period;- Organisational geographies;- Prescribing organisation;- Prescriber type;- Dispensing organisation;- Drug description including formulation, strength and quantity prescribed;- Reimbursement price;- Remuneration costs;- Patients National Health Service number, age and date of birth; and- Prescription type: paper prescription or electronic message and if the prescription is acute or repeat dispensing.

Postnatal Care

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the provision of postnatal check-ups by GP practices.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not hold data relating to the take up of postnatal check-ups in general practitioner (GP) practices. The Care Quality Commission’s 2017 survey of women’s experiences of maternity care, found that 92% of the 17,570 respondents said the midwife had told them that they would need to arrange a postnatal check-up of their own health with their GP around six to eight weeks after the birth.

National Food Crime Unit: Prosecutions

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prosecutions have been secured as a result of intelligence gathered by the National Food Crime Unit since its establishment; what offences those prosecutions were for; and what the outcome was of each such prosecution.

Steve Brine: The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is an intelligence unit which does not currently have the remit, resources or powers to conduct its own investigations or prosecutions. Intelligence gathered and analysed is therefore disseminated to partners, primarily in local authorities. The NFCU became fully operational in early 2016. That year it disseminated 503 individual pieces of intelligence to partners making a further 595 disseminations in 2017. As local authority and policing partners are responsible for deciding what enforcement action is appropriate, the NFCU does not routinely receive feedback on the outcome of these disseminations. We are aware that in 2017 NFCU intelligence led to the first conviction in the United Kingdom for the illegal sale of toxic chemical 2,4 dinitrophenol for consumption under food safety legislation.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department has calculated the figures for the financial liability for sleep-in overnight care in the social care sector.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish the Deloitte report on the financial liability for sleep-in overnight care in the social care sector.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government has commissioned market analysis to assess the impact on the sector, however this forms part of the evidence base that is being used to assess options and is subject to further analysis and refinement. Consequently there is no timetable for publication. The Government recognises the pressures these liabilities are placing on providers of social care, and we are exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector.

Midwives: Training

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many midwives were in formal training in England in each of the last three financial years.

Stephen Barclay: The following table shows the total number of midwives who were in training in England as at 31 March 2015, 2016 and 2017.  201520162017Midwives6,6626,3506,559Source: Health Education England There are over 2,400 more full time equivalent midwives working in the National Health Service compared to 2010, an increase of 12.4%.

Midwives

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many midwifery graduates there were in England in each of the last three years.

Stephen Barclay: The following table shows the number of midwives who graduated in England in each academic year, for the period 2014-15 to 2016-17.Academic year2014-152015-162016-17Midwifery Graduates1,8101,9332,132Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record

Midwives: Retirement

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many midwives left employment in the NHS in England on account of reaching retirement age in each of the last three years.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following table shows the number of midwives who have left the National Health Service since October 2014 to 2017. NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Leavers from the NHS that were midwives, those that had the recorded reason of retirement age, in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England, between 31 October 2014 and 31 October 2017, headcountYearOctober 2014 - October 2015October 2015 - October 2016October 2016 - October 2017Midwives, retired leavers (Headcount)462505428Source: NHS Digital, NHS HCHS workforce statistics

Royal Liverpool University Hospital

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for a new contract to be agreed for the completion of the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the liquidation of Carillion on the completion of building work at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital; and will he make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract between the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and the PFI Project Company is still in place, which means that the Company is still contractually obliged to manage the project and find a construction firm or subcontractor who can continue the building work. The Royal Liverpool Hospital scheme is very well advanced. The PFI Project Company is continuing its discussions with PwC (on behalf of the official receiver), their lenders and with other service and construction companies to assess how best to continue delivering the contract.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in Warwick and Leamington constituency.

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in the (a) Lincoln constituency and (b) Lincolnshire County Council.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the the total sleep-in back pay liability will accrue to providers in (a) Hampshire and (b) Portsmouth South.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in (a) Coventry South constituency and (b) the Coventry CIty Council area.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) on 26 February 2018 to Question 128962.

Cancer: Males

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many diagnoses of cancer in men were attributable to HPV in the last five years.

Steve Brine: Data on the number of diagnoses of cancer in men attributable to human papillomavirus are not collected in the format requested.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of potential effectiveness of a HPV vaccination programme for men.

Steve Brine: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert committee that advises ministers on immunisation related issues, is currently considering the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme to adolescent boys. This will include an assessment of the effectiveness of HPV vaccines in this group. In November 2015, JCVI advised an HPV immunisation programme for men who have sex with men, up to and including the age of 45 years, who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. This was based on an assessment of the impact and cost-effectiveness of a three dose vaccination programme undertaken by Public Health England. Further information can be found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5404831/pdf/ciw845.pdf

Obesity: Children

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the childhood obesity rate is in Cornwall.

Steve Brine: The prevalence of childhood obesity in Cornwall (including Isles of Scilly) for academic year 2016/17 for reception age children (aged four to five years) is 10.0%. The prevalence of childhood obesity in Cornwall (including Isles of Scilly) for academic year 2016/17 for Year Six age children (aged 10-11 years) is 15.1%. The data are publicly available on the Public Health England fingertips tool here: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/national-child-measurement-programme/data#page/0/gid/8000011/pat/6/par/E12000009/ati/102/are/E06000052 Prevalence rates for childhood obesity for children at other ages are not collected in large enough samples to generate reliable county-level data.

NHS: Loans

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the value of new loans made by his Department to NHS bodies was in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total amount of (a) loan repayments and b) interest received was by his Department from NHS bodies in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total amount owed to his Department by NHS bodies was in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what rate of interest is applied to loans made by his Department to NHS bodies.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is shown in the following tables: Value of new loans issued to National Health Service providers: 2016-17£4,151,961,0002015-16£3,777,273,0002014-15£942,724,1892013-14£580,678,2182012-13£379,989,0002011-12£409,063,1252010-11£552,101,4002009-10£442,461,6002008-09£359,071,0002007-08£108,265,000 Total amount of loan repayments and interest received:Loan repayments2016-17£1,312,676,2812015-16£1,423,203,8052014-15£235,682,1932013-14£182,828,5472012-13£243,000,3342011-12£178,943,6052010-11£202,757,1392009-10£198,542,2212008-09£282,616,0452007-08£223,385,871 Interest received2016-17£161,036,2652015-16£106,055,5362014-15£72,355,7732013-14£62,903,7142012-13£58,682,8662011-12£55,931,3352010-11£49,023,7592009-10£41,806,3612008-09£43,010,8832007-08£44,335,376 Loan balances:2016/17£7,483,010,0002015/16£5,018,223,0002014/15£2,675,927,0002013/14£1,996,033,0002012/13£1,615,627,0002011/12£1,452,964,0002010/11£1,259,563,0002009/10£930,208,0002008/09£852,214,0002007/08£766,080,000 Interest rates: Loans vary based on the purpose of the loan and provider’s financial circumstances. These tend to be National Loan Fund rates for normal course of business loans. For those that are in receipt of interim financial support, the interest rates charged on loans are either 1.5%, 3.5% or 6%. The 6% rate is usually reserved for those providers entering Financial Special Measures (FSM). However, those providers in FSM that deliver three months of NHS Improvement benchmarked performance are no longer charged 6% on further loans.

Defibrillators: Public Buildings

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regulations requiring all public buildings to have access to a defibrillator.

Steve Brine: The Government recognises that better provision of defibrillators and increasing the number of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation could help save more lives of those who have a cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting. We therefore encourage organisations to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of their first-aid equipment, particularly for places where there are high concentrations of people. The Government does not believe that a regulatory approach is the best solution for this issue. In order to further support the National Health Service and local communities, the Government has provided £2 million to make public access defibrillators more widely available and to increase the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Heart Diseases

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve the survival rates of out of hospital cardiac arrests; and what role automatic external defibrillators will play in those plans.

Steve Brine: The Government recognises that better provision of defibrillators and increasing the number of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) could help save more lives of those who have a cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting. We therefore encourage organisations to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of their first-aid equipment, particularly for places where there are high concentrations of people. The Department published the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy in 2013, which highlighted the importance of CPR and availability of Public Access Defibrillators. NHS England has advised that, since the publication of the Strategy, the Community Resuscitation Steering Group (CRSG) has taken steps to address issues relating to CVD outcomes. These steps include:- HM Treasury allocated two tranches of £1 million each to purchasing more Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has supervised its distribution; and- UK Resuscitation Council, BHF, and Arrhythmia Alliance have all undertaken campaigns to increase awareness of CPR and availability of PADs.

Midwives: Retirement

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many midwives left NHS employment because they had reached retirement age in each year since 2011-12.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following table shows the number of midwives who have left the National Health Service since October 2011/12 to 2016/17. NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Leavers from the NHS that were midwives, those that had the recorded reason of retirement age, in NHS trusts and clinical commission groups in England, between 31 October 2011 and 31 October 2017, headcount.YearOctober 2011 - October 2012October 2012 - October 2013October 2013 - October 2014October 2014 - October 2015October 2015 - October 2016October 2016 - October 2017Midwives, retired leavers (Headcount)361428421462505428Source: NHS Digital, NHS HCHS workforce statistics.

Midwives: Age

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the age profile is of midwives at the (a) most recent date for which figures are available and (b) the equivalent date in each year since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following table shows the age profile of midwives in the National Health Service in England from October 2010 to 2017. Registered midwives by five year age band in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England as at 31 October of each specified year, headcount.  October 2010October 2011October 2012October 2013October 2014October 2015October 2016October 2017Under 258831,0261,1551,3201,3391,3521,4421,49325 to 292,0432,1912,3432,5112,7883,1423,3673,63830 to 342,5532,7442,8002,9012,9653,0243,1173,27935 to 392,7592,8392,7622,7882,9413,0903,2123,33940 to 444,1393,7893,5403,3153,1873,0693,0392,99945 to 495,1195,1195,0514,8014,4043,9753,6093,33550 to 543,8184,0944,2674,4524,6294,6614,5624,45355 to 592,0222,0872,2812,3772,5182,5672,6652,74560 to 6480382382281684191491199865 and over144127139156180189175164Total Headcount24,28324,83925,16025,43725,79225,98326,09926,443 Source: NHS Digital, Provisional NHS Hospital and Community Health Service monthly workforce statistics

Maternity Services: Staff

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) support workers and (b) people on Agenda for Change pay bands 1 to 4 were working in maternity services in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) support workers in bands 1 to 4 working within maternity services in England between September 2015 and October 2017. NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Support Workers working within Maternity Services by Agenda for Change band in National Health Service trusts and clinical commission groups in England as at 30 September each specified year and latest data as at 31 October 2017, FTE.Support workers (FTE)September-2015September-2016September-2017October-2017Band 186958578Band 24,0764,1634,1304,144Band 31,9732,1072,0762,078Band 4472449468457Unknown46444342Source: NHS Digital, HCHS monthly workforce statistics.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many operations were (a) cancelled and (b) postponed for patients with (i) cancer, (ii) heart disease (iii) other surgeries categorised as urgent in December 2017 and January 2018.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the cost to NHS hospitals of re-scheduling elective operations that were cancelled or postponed during winter 2017-18; whether additional funding will be made available to cover those costs; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his Department’s policy for patients who have had their operations cancelled or postponed during winter 2017-18 to have their operations rescheduled within 28 days.

Stephen Barclay: The National Emergency Pressures Panel (NEPP) met on 2 January 2018 and recommended that non-urgent operations be deferred until 31 January 2018 to increase capacity for emergency cases. NEPP’s recommendations to trusts were clear that cancer operations and procedures where deferral would lead to a deterioration in the patient’s condition were not in scope and should continue as planned. NHS England and NHS Improvement will undertake a review of the arrangements and interventions undertaken this winter, including the recommendations issued by NEPP on the deferment of patients’ routine elective treatment. For those patients who have not had new appointments, cancelled operations should be rescheduled at the earliest opportunity, taking into account patients’ clinical need. The Government has supported the National Health Service to manage winter pressures with £337 million additional funding.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to NHS staff on filing medical care cost claims under the EHIC system.

Stephen Barclay: The Department of has published Guidance on implementing the overseas visitors charging regulations. This provides detailed advice to National Health Service staff on their organisations’ legal duties to make and recover charges from overseas visitors provided with secondary care services and how best to do this, including the process for seeking reimbursement where appropriate from European Economic Area member states under the European Health Insurance Card system. More technical advice for those submitting reimbursement claims and advice on what staff can do to support hospitals in recovering costs from these visitors is also available. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-overseas-visitors-hospital-charging-regulations

Neuroblastoma: Children

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, If he will make it his policy to bring forward proposals to improve the care for children suffering from neuroblastoma.

Steve Brine: The Government has accepted all of the recommendations in the independent Cancer Taskforce report; ‘Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A strategy for England 2015-2020’, including those related to children and young people. NHS England’s Clinical Reference Group for Children and Young Adults is leading on the implementation of the recommendations which will improve the care and treatment of all cancers, including improving participation in clinical trials and reviewing the organisation of Designated Hospitals.

Slaughterhouses: Inspections

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, at how many sites has the Food Standards Agency detained meat since 1 January 2018.

Steve Brine: Data regarding detained meat is not collected centrally. This is for a number of reasons. For example, detained meat is not always necessarily rejected as un-fit for human consumption. Meat may be detained for further inspection or while awaiting information, for example, results of tests or identification checks. Following these further checks or inspections the meat may be deemed fit for human consumption and released back into the supply chain. Data on rejected meat is published on the Food Standards Agency’s website when the audit reports are collated annually for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry.

Slaughterhouses: Inspections

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what quantity of meat has been detained by the Food Standards Agency since 1 January 2018.

Steve Brine: Data regarding quantities of detained meat is not collected centrally. This is for a number of reasons. For example, detained meat is not always necessarily rejected as un-fit for human consumption. Meat may be detained for further inspection or while awaiting information, for example, results of tests or identification checks. Following these further checks or inspections the meat may be deemed fit for human consumption and released back into the supply chain. Data on rejected meat is published on the Food Standards Agency’s website when the audit reports are collated annually for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry.

Russell Hume: Inspections

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cold stores the Food Standards Agency has inspected in connection with its inquiries into issues arising from its recent inspections of Russell Hume.

Steve Brine: As a result of the Russell Hume investigations, the Food Standards Agency has attended and supported at local authority-led inspections of 15 stand-alone cold stores. Cold stores are approved by local authorities and the regulatory remit for delivering official controls rests with the local authorities.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health services for children and young people in the North East.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England in the North East and Cumbria commission in-patient services for children and young people with a mental illness, learning disabilities, autism and eating disorders. Young people have access to assessment and treatment units, psychiatric intensive care, low security and medium security, a complex neurodevelopmental service, and eating disorder outreach. NHS England is undertaking a National Service Review of all Children and Young People’s Mental health (CYPMHS) Tier 4 services. This process is nationally driven and locally implemented, the focus being to redistribute the number of CYPMHS beds nationally to ensure the local need is met within each Specialised Commissioning Hub. The North East and Cumbria Hub has reviewed local activity and demand and has developed an implementation plan which outlines the number and type of beds required in region to reduce the number of out-of-area admissions. Running alongside the National Service Review are the two-year New Care Model Pilots. This is a nationally developed programme to transfer the budget for Tier 4 services to providers, enabling them to invest in the whole pathway, developing community services and reducing the reliance on in-patient beds. In the North East and Cumbria there are two pilots, which cover the whole hub. The providers are Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. Both business cases focus on the development of 24-hour crisis services and improved community provision across both providers’ areas, reducing lengths of stay, number of out-of-area placements and reliance on in-patient beds. NHS England is working closely with the providers on the implementation and evaluation of these pilots.

Accident and Emergency Departments: North East

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of A&E services provided in the North East.

Stephen Barclay: The quality of all services, including services in accident and emergency (A&E) departments, is continually reviewed as part of Sustainability and Transformation Partnership working. To support A&E services this winter, an additional £437 million of funding was provided by the Government to support increased demand over winter and an extra £1 billion of funding has been provided to be spent on meeting adult social care needs, supporting the social care market and reducing pressure on the National Health Service this year. NHS trusts in the North East have received over £22 million of funding to support winter capacity and the delivery of primary care streaming in A&E departments. This funding has supported trusts to implement a range of actions to support increased demand within A&E departments including an increased workforce during the busiest periods, the opening of additional escalation beds and the provision of community support to reduce admissions into hospital. For 2018/19, the NHS has been given an additional £1.6 billion to be used by the NHS to treat a quarter of a million more patients in A&E above the 23.5 million it expects to treat this financial year.

Palliative Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to assist families in implementing advance care plans for relatives receiving end-of-life care.

Caroline Dinenage: On 5 July 2016 we published Our Commitment to you for end of life care, which set out what everyone should expect from their care at the end of life and the actions we are taking to make high quality, personalised care a reality for everyone by 2020. Our Commitment stated that everyone should have the opportunity to develop and document a personalised care plan based on what matters to them, including: advance decisions; preferences about where they would like to be cared for and would want to die; and to review and revise this plan throughout the duration of their illness. NHS England and the Ambitions for End of life Care partnership have made available a range of resources to support commissioners to deliver advance care planning for families and patients, including an end of life care toolkit and care planning guidance. Over the last year, additional support has been made available in the form of new guidance on end of life care planning for people with dementia, as well as an online training course to support volunteers to understand what advance care planning is and how to deliver it; as well as how to assist others with advance care planning. Both resources can be found at the links below: www.england.nhs.uk/publication/dementia-good-care-planning-information-for-primary-care-and-commissioners/ www.endoflifecareambitions.org.uk/thinking-planning-ahead-learning/ The Government commitment also set out plans to work with voluntary sector partners to raise public awareness nationally of issues around death and dying and the importance of enabling individuals to make end of life care plans in advance. NHS England contributed funding to the Dying Matters campaign in 2016/17 and also promoted Dying Matters Week via the National End of Life Care Programme Board and through the National Palliative and End of Life Care Network. In addition, in October 2017, Age UK published a booklet and animation; Let's Talk About Death and Dying, that provides information about conversations, care and choices at the end of life. It was promoted through their media channels including radio and trade press.

Obesity: Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the childhood obesity rate is in Coventry.

Steve Brine: The prevalence of obesity for children in reception (aged 4-5) for the academic period 2016/17 in the local authority area of Coventry is 10.1%. The prevalence of obesity for children in year 6 (aged 10-11) for the academic period 2016/17 in the local authority area of Coventry is 24.2%. The data is publicly available here: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/national-child-measurement-programme/data#page/0/gid/8000011/pat/6/par/E12000005/ati/102/are/E08000026

Hospital Wards: Gender

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for how many days of winter 2017-18 NHS Improvement suspended penalties for mixed sex accommodation breaches; how many breaches took place during this time; and whether penalties have been restored.

Stephen Barclay: The recommendations from the National Emergency Pressures Panel to help trusts manage sustained pressures during winter were announced on 2 January 2018 and remained in place until 31 January 2018. This included temporarily suspending sanctions for mixed sex accommodation breaches. Providers of National Health Service-funded healthcare reported 1,908 breaches of the mixed sex accommodation guidance in relation to NHS patients in sleeping accommodation in England during January 2018.

Pressure Sores

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) number and (b) rate was of hospital acquired pressure ulcers in the NHS in each of the last eight years; and if he will publish the most recent figures by region.

Caroline Dinenage: Patient safety remains a key priority of this Government. While there are various tools and mechanisms for reporting pressure ulcers in the National Health Service, the data is not held in the format requested and therefore the most recent figures cannot be published by region. However, the NHS Safety Thermometer is a point prevalence survey used to record the presence or absence of four harms including pressure ulcers which have developed 72 hours or more following admission or have deteriorated following admission. Data reports from the NHS Safety Thermometer dating back to August 2012 show a downward trend in incidents of pressure ulcers reported by hospitals from 1.3% in August 2012, to 0.9% in January 2018, the most recent data. NHS Safety Thermometer DashboardReported Pressure UlcersPercentageJanuary 20180.9March 20171.0March 20160.9March 20151.0March 20141.0March 20131.3August 20121.3 Source:https://www.safetythermometer.nhs.uk/index.php/classic-thermometer/analyse-data-classic/dashboard-classic

Autism: Diagnosis

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure the collection of data to record the waiting times for autism diagnoses in England in version 3 of the Mental Health Services Data Set will begin from April 2018.

Caroline Dinenage: Following completion of a consultation last autumn, NHS Digital announced that recording of data on waiting times from referral for suspected autism to a first appointment and subsequent diagnosis would be collected within the Mental Health Services Data Set from April 2018. In preparation for this, dialogue is taking place between National Health Service mental health trusts which will collate the data and autism diagnostic services about the new requirements. To support those local discussions, the Department has co-ordinated production of a guide which NHS Digital will circulate to trusts in March via their newsletter to provide further clarity. NHS Digital will monitor the quality of the data recorded and submitted from April 2018 and the intention is to publish a first formal report on this data during 2019.

Food: Testing

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many food standards samples were submitted to each local authority's appointed public analyst in each of the last five years; how many of those samples submitted were taken as part of a Food Standards Agency funded co-ordinated sampling programme in each authority; and how many of those samples were paid for by the local authority.

Steve Brine: Sampling and surveillance of food is an essential part of an overall approach to protecting public health. Public Analyst Laboratories have an essential part to play in this. The numbers of samples submitted to each Public Analyst Laboratory, as reported by local authorities on the UK Food Surveillance System (UKFSS) can be seen in the tables below. 2016/17Public Analyst LabNumber of samplesMinton/Worcester shared code339Public Analyst Lab, Stafford403Public Analyst Lab, Hampshire814Public Analyst Lab, Lancashire868Public Analyst, Kent1,415Public Analyst, London596Public Analyst, Minton742Public Analyst, Northern Ireland2Public Analyst, Norwich1,162Public Analyst, West Yorkshire910Public Analyst, Wolverhampton5,308Public Analyst, Worcester803Grand Total13,362 2015/16Public Analyst LabNumber of samplesMinton/Worcester shared code2,095Public Analyst Lab, Stafford409Public Analyst Lab, Hampshire1,111Public Analyst Lab, Lancashire1,311Public Analyst, Kent1,600Public Analyst, London1,020Public Analyst, Minton1,165Public Analyst, Northern Ireland1Public Analyst, Norwich1,779Public Analyst, West Yorkshire1,192Public Analyst, Wolverhampton3,317Public Analyst, Worcester1,252Grand Total16,252 2014/15Public Analyst LabNumber of samplesMinton/Worcester shared code1,847Public Analyst Lab, Stafford578Public Analyst Lab, Hampshire1,210Public Analyst Lab, Lancashire1,363Public Analyst, Cardiff301Public Analyst, Kent1,781Public Analyst, London1,283Public Analyst, Manchester5Public Analyst, Minton1,137Public Analyst, Northern Ireland28Public Analyst, Norwich1,587Public Analyst, West Yorkshire1,847Public Analyst, Wolverhampton3,581Public Analyst, Worcester1,276Grand Total17,824 2013/14Public Analyst LabNumber of samplesPublic Analyst Lab, Stafford883Public Analyst Lab, Aberdeen810Public Analyst Lab, Dundee654Public Analyst Lab, Edinburgh1,465Public Analyst Lab, Glasgow1,715Public Analyst Lab, Hampshire1,338Public Analyst Lab, Lancashire1,612Public Analyst Lab, Somerset1Public Analyst, Cardiff766Public Analyst, Kent1,722Public Analyst, London1,324Public Analyst, Minton916Public Analyst, Northern Ireland2,377Public Analyst, Norwich1,468Public Analyst, West Yorkshire2,575Public Analyst, Wolverhampton3,460Public Analyst, Worcester1,136Grand Total24,222  Data from UKFSS indicates the following number and percentage of samples submitted that were taken as part of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) sampling plan in each of the last five years. Samples submitted not taken as part of the FSA sampling plan were funded by local authorities.  No of samples taken as part of the FSA sampling programme2016/172,857 (21%)2015/165,205 (32%)2014/156,274 (35%)2013/147,154 (30%)2012/135,027 (12%)

Obesity

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions there have been for patients with a primary diagnosis of obesity in each of the last three years; and if he publish that information by (a) sex and (b) age group.

Steve Brine: NHS Digital has provided a count of finished admission episodes1 (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis2 of obesity, tabulated by sex and age group, for the financial years between 2014-15 and 2016-173. This information is provided in the table below. Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 2014-152015-162016-17AgeMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale0-980104989410712210-1921927323532131136520-2913057512463812965430-393251,2162971,3213581,48640-496371,9526862,0896992,06650-596761,6696741,9568072,04560-6938269038679844182470-79641558316111220180-8920472751255890+-5-4-6Unknown62414251026Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS DigitalNotes: 1A FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. 2The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. 3HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.

Obesity

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital bed days were used by patients with obesity-related conditions in each of the last three years; and if he will publish that information by (a) sex and (b) age group.

Steve Brine: NHS Digital has provided a count of the number of hospital bed days1 for finished admission episodes2 with a primary diagnosis3 of obesity, tabulated by sex and age band, for the financial years between 2014-15 and 2016-174. This information is provided in the table below. Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 2014-152015-162016-17AgeMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale0-945946248695810-19832901931719127120-291,2781,0762509922841,14330-396122,5788032,2421,4792,81040-491,6654,2241,5554,4421,2963,82550-592,0124,0931,8135,0261,9704,23660-691,7322,8031,3642,8611,6163,19070-797571,8535611,6346901,79780-8916870723674036882390+161094226757Unknown1042174372147 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS DigitalNotes: 1Episode duration is calculated as the difference in days between the episode start date and the episode end date, where both are given. Episode duration is based on finished consultant episodes (FCE) and only applies to ordinary admissions, i.e. day cases are excluded (unless otherwise stated). 2A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. 3The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. 4HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care how many alcohol attributable hospital admissions there have been in each of the last three years; and if he will publish that information by (a) sex and (b) age group.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital bed days were used by patients with alcohol-related conditions in each of the last three years; and if he will publish that information by (a) sex and (b) age group.

Steve Brine: Public Health England regularly publishes information showing the number of alcohol-related National Health Service hospital admissions in England in the Local Alcohol Profiles for England. The table below shows figures for the last three years based on primary and secondary diagnoses (broad measure): TotalMale (all ages)Female (all ages)2016/171,135,710732,790402,9202015/161,119,020721,340397,6802014/151,078,810695,360383,450 This data, including a further breakdown by sex and age group is available at: http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/documents/LAPE_Statistical_Tables_for_England_022018.xlsx NHS Digital will also publish this data in its annual Statistics on Alcohol 2018 report which is due to be published on 1 May. Data on the number of hospital bed days used by patients with alcohol-related conditions is not collected centrally.

Department for International Development

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the outcome of the recent Kuwait Conference; and what the extent was of the funding agreed at that conference.

Alistair Burt: Pledges totalling over $30billion were made at the Kuwait conference, for which the Government of Iraq, conference organisers and donors should be congratulated. I reiterated that UK Export Finance will offer up to £750 million of export finance in any given year for infrastructure projects in Iraq under its ten year MoU.A large number of private sector companies from numerous nations also attended, highlighting the interest from potential foreign investors. We will now need to ensure that the Government of Iraq converts this strong international support into sustainable reconstruction, reconciliation and private sector development.

Israel and Palestinians: Community Relations

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department has provided for projects encouraging peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis in the last three years.

Alistair Burt: DFID has allocated £3 million for a three year (2017-2020) people-to-people programme which brings together Palestinians and Israelis to build support for a just and peaceful political solution. The programme will facilitate interaction between youth leaders, religious communities and strengthen co-operation in the health sector. DFID has not funded any other people-to-people programmes within the last 3 years.

Department for International Development: Fairtrade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department's spend on day-to-day goods has comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

Alistair Burt: DFID has contracted Interserve Facilities Management to deliver catering facilities to our UK buildings with effect from 01 October 2016. We do not hold any data relevant to your request prior to this date. For the period from 01/10/16 to date we hold the following information:DFID’s spend on catering products for this period was £427,396. The proportion of this spent on Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance Products was £35,074 or 8.2%

Department for International Development: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will list the organisations her Department has outsourced functions to since 2011.

Alistair Burt: Since 2011, the Department has outsourced one function (portering and mail services) to Interserve.

Department for International Development: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what percentage of workers employed directly by her Department belonged to a trade union in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt: DFID do not hold this information. Trade union membership is held by the individual trade union.

Department for International Development: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff, and (d) any other staff were directly employed on zero-hours contracts by his Department in each of the last eight years.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID do not use zero-hours contracts.

Department for International Development: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many and what percentage of employees in her Department worked (a) in departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) at any other location in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

Harriett Baldwin: As at 31 January 2018, DFID has 2,498 home civil service employees based in UK and overseas offices as shown in the table below:LocationTotal%Abercrombie House, East Kilbride83533.4%Whitehall1,13645.5%Overseas52721.1%Total2,498100.0%To work from home on an ad hoc basis is at the discretion of the Line Manager and as this is not contractual, this information is not available.DFID do not have any data that our staff work from any other location rather than from home or their work location.

Syria: Disability

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the needs of children with disabilities in Syria on the Government’s commitment to the Grand Bargain scheme for additional investment for (a) local NGOs and (b) other partners, in advance of this year's Global Disability Summit.

Alistair Burt: The UK is working with the UN and other donors to translate the Grand Bargain commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit into action. This includes supporting the capacity of local and national responders.Since 2012, DFID has allocated £897 million to support those most in need in Syria, including vulnerable groups such as disabled children. DFID also provides tailored support through specialist paediatric centres for children with both mental and physical disabilities that are designed to meet their needs. While we are not looking to provide additional investment, we are exploring options to improve capacity of all partners in Syria to ensure better disability inclusion across our programmes.In the run up to the first ever Global Disability Summit, which the UK is co-hosting, DFID will continue to galvanise the international community to commit more, both in terms of funding and action. This will be a pivotal moment for the disability community which will create global momentum across partners, NGOs, and governments.

Department for Education

Video Games: Higher Education

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of students studying for a degree in video games.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The UK’s video games sector plays a vital role in the country’s thriving creative industries. The last budget included a commitment to extend our support for the UK Games Fund until 2020, a proven approach to mentoring and developing the games developers of the future. In addition, the Department for Education is undertaking a range of initiatives to promote digital and computing skills, relevant to the computer games industry, more generally throughout the education system. We are investing £84 million of new funding over the next five years to deliver a comprehensive programme to improve the teaching of the computing curriculum and increase participation in Computer Science GCSE. We are also seeking to strengthen the role that Higher Education providers can play in providing digital and computing skills, including: Supporting the establishment of a new Institute of Coding to serve as a national focus for improving digital skills provision at levels six and seven with a £20 million fund to improve higher-level digital skills. With joint collaborations between universities and businesses, and to focus on computer science and digital skills in related disciplines. It will ensure the courses better meet employers’ needs.Funding to support universities to develop conversion courses in engineering and computer science, which allow graduates from other subjects to undertake further study and pursue careers in engineering and computer science. All of the above will help ensure that students who wish to pursue a degree in video game subjects have the necessary skills to do so and will help to continue the upward trend in numbers of students studying degrees in this area.

Children: Day Care

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 123752 on Childcare: Costs, what plans his Department has to carry out an up-to-date review of childcare costs in England.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department’s long-standing annual Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers, capturing information from a sample of approximately 10,000 providers, is the main way in which the department collects robust, wide-ranging and up-to-date evidence on childcare providers in England. This year, the analytical programme will be enhanced with more detailed research on provider finances and childcare costs for 2-4 year olds. This will involve externally commissioned research with site visits to a representative sample of early years providers to provide us with robust, up-to-date evidence on childcare costs. The most recent Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2016.

Children: Care Homes

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the reasons are for the time taken by Ofsted to give approval for the new Tregosse residential care home.

Nadhim Zahawi: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Children: Care Homes

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of Ofsted's registration process for new residential care centres for children with severe and multiple additional behavioural needs.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department has not carried out an assessment of the efficacy of Ofsted’s registration process for children’s social care settings. However, the requirement to register and registration procedure is contained in part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 and this sets out a number of safeguards to ensure its efficacy.

Post-18 Education and Funding Review

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's review of post-18 education and funding, published on 19 February 2018, whether the requirement that the review will not make recommendations related to taxation will exclude additional funding to meet the cost of any policy changes recommended by that Review.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The review of post-18 education and funding will look at how we can ensure a joined-up education system that works for everyone and is accessible to all. The review will look at how we can ensure the system is supported by a funding system that provides value for money and works for students and taxpayers, incentivises choice and competition across the sector, and encourages the development of the skills that we need as a country, whilst maintaining the financial sustainability of a world-class higher education and research sector. While the review will not make recommendations related to taxation, the case for changes to the post-18 education system and associated public spending impacts will be looked at as part of the review. This will be considered alongside existing budget lines and wider decision-making processes on public spending, consistent with the government’s fiscal policies. The government has appointed an external panel, comprising experts from across post-18 education and the business world that will consider the available evidence and engage with stakeholders to provide advice to inform the review. The panel will publish a report at an interim stage, before the government concludes the overall review in early 2019. We cannot prejudge the outcomes of the review.

Post-18 Education and Funding Review

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the review of post-18 education and funding, published on 19 February 2018, whether the requirement that recommendations be consistent with the Government’s fiscal policies will exclude recommendations that would require an increase in public sector net borrowing.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The review of post-18 education and funding will look at how we can ensure a joined-up education system that works for everyone and is accessible to all. The review will look at how we can ensure the system is supported by a funding system that provides value for money and works for students and taxpayers, incentivises choice and competition across the sector, and encourages the development of the skills that we need as a country, whilst maintaining the financial sustainability of a world-class higher education and research sector. The case for changes to the post-18 education system and associated public spending impacts will be looked at as part of the review. This will be considered alongside existing budget lines and wider decision making processes on public spending, consistent with the government’s fiscal policies to reduce the deficit and have debt falling as a percentage of gross domestic product. The government has appointed an external panel, comprising experts from across post-18 education and the business world that will consider the available evidence and engage with stakeholders to provide advice to inform the review. The panel will publish a report at an interim stage, before the government concludes the overall review in early 2019. We cannot prejudge the outcomes of the review.

Students: Fees and Charges

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of different levels of tuition fees by subject on university finances; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The government sets a maximum tuition fee cap for the amount chargeable by higher education institutions funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. It is for individual institutions to set fee levels within the cap. The majority of universities charge the maximum possible fees for at least some of their courses. The review of post-18 education and funding will seek to ensure that the system incentivises choice and competition across the sector and is supported by a funding system that provides value for money for students and taxpayers. Any proposal must maintain the financial sustainability of our world-class higher education and research sector. The government has appointed an external panel, comprising experts from across post-18 education and the business world. The panel will consider the available evidence, engage with stakeholders, and make assessments to provide advice to inform the review. The panel will publish a report at an interim stage, before the overall review concludes in early 2019. We cannot prejudge the outcome of the review.

Post-18 Education and Funding Review

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department's review of post-18 education and funding will consider a reduction in the interest rates charged on student debt for students in education.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The review of post-18 education and funding will look at how we can ensure a joined-up education system that works for everyone and is accessible to all. The review will look at how we can ensure the system is supported by a funding system that provides value for money and works for students and taxpayers, incentivises choice and competition across the sector, and encourages the development of the skills that we need as a country, whilst maintaining the financial sustainability of a world-class higher education and research sector. As set out in the Terms of Reference for the review, this will include consideration of how students and graduates contribute to the cost of their studies, including the level, terms and duration of their contribution. The government has appointed an external panel, comprising experts from across post-18 education and the business world that will consider the available evidence and engage with stakeholders to provide advice to inform the review. The panel will publish a report at an interim stage, before the government concludes the overall review in early 2019. We cannot prejudge the outcomes of the review.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children entered a grace period for 30 hours of free childcare; and what the average length was of grace periods during the September 2017 term.

Nadhim Zahawi: Parents who fall out of eligibility are able to retain their childcare place for a short period, known as the grace period. A parent enters their grace period if they are found ineligible when reconfirming their details (every three months), or if they forget to reconfirm in time. In the case of the latter, this can mean that a parent is only in their grace period for a matter of days before successfully reconfirming. These parents do not lose their 30 hours place at the end of their grace period. Some parents who enter their grace period will successfully regain employment before they lose their childcare place. Therefore, the number of children who entered their grace period during a term changes on a daily basis, and as such, the total number of children who have entered a grace period is not meaningful.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether local authorities are permitted to change the funding rate paid to childcare providers for 30 hours of free childcare during a school year.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authorities are required to consult providers on annual changes to their local formula for the forthcoming financial year. Local authorities must calculate and notify initial budgets to providers by 31 March. Unless a disapplication is authorised by the Secretary of State, the formula cannot be changed after the financial year has started. More detail is set out in the Early Years entitlements: local authority funding of providers: Operational Guide 2018 to 2019.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent correspondence his Department has had with Ofsted on its decision to remove the requirement on childcare providers to complete self-evaluation forms.

Nadhim Zahawi: Ofsted provides a form on its website that childcare providers can complete to self-evaluate their performance prior to inspection. Ofsted’s online myth-buster makes clear that completion of this form is optional but inspectors will ask providers about the quality of care and activities they provide, and how well the setting is meeting the learning needs of all children. Ofsted has discussed removing the self-evaluation form template with stakeholder organisations and Department for Education officials were involved in that discussion. This is an operational decision for Ofsted and they will communicate with the wider sector about this in due course.

Apprentices: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeship places are available in (a) Coventry South constituency, (b) Coventry and (c) the West Midlands.

Anne Milton: We do not hold the number of all apprenticeship vacancies, but some vacancies are advertised on the ‘Find an apprenticeship’ service website: https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch.The table below provides the number of apprenticeship vacancies on this website in February 2018. As not all vacancies are advertised through this system, they may not be indicative of all the places available.Apprenticeship vacancies postedGeographical breakdownNumberCoventry South40Coventry110The West Midlands2,740   Notes:1) Figures are from ‘Find an apprenticeship’ service and may not be indicative of the true level of vacancies available.2) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.We published the number of apprenticeship starts (attached) for each academic year with these breakdowns in the ‘FE data library: further education and skills’:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-further-education-and-skills.



Apprenticeship starts by academic year
(Word Document, 23.97 KB)

Schools: Voyeurism

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the practice of up-skirting in schools.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department provides to students who are victims of the practice of up-skirting.

Nick Gibb: Sexual harassment is unacceptable and not an inevitable part of growing up. Schools should develop a whole-school approach to preventing harassment, underpinned by school behaviour policies and pastoral support. The department published advice for schools covering child on child sexual harassment and sexual violence on 14 December 2017. Central themes include supporting victims of abuse, a whole-school approach to safeguarding and preventative education. The advice is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sexual-violence-and-sexual-harassment-between-children-in-schools-and-colleges. Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) is statutory guidance; all schools must have regard to it when carrying out safeguarding duties and promoting children’s welfare. The guidance is clear all schools should have effective child protection policies and provide a safe education environment. If there are concerns about a child, referrals should be made to children’s social care and if appropriate, the police. A consultation on proposed changes to KCSIE closed on 22 February 2018. We are considering the best way to strengthen guidance with regard to sexual violence and sexual harassment. The department has published advice to support schools develop behaviour policies. The advice is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools.

Teachers: Training

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total amount of money provided through the Student Loans Company to meet the cost of tuition fees for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education was in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Statistics covering payments to domestic and EU students under the English higher education funding system are published annually by the Student Loans Company (SLC). Data collected by the SLC shows that in the academic year 2015/16, around £174 million in tuition fee loans was paid to providers of higher education on behalf of students on full-time postgraduate initial teacher training courses. As at August 2017, around £165 million in tuition fee loans was paid in the academic year 2016/17. Payments for 2016/17 are provisional; typically around 1% of payments are made after the end of the traditional academic year. Due to the introduction of a new course management system at SLC, information prior to the academic year 2015/16 is not available on a comparable basis.

T-levels

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding his Department plans to make available to promote and market T Levels before their introduction.

Anne Milton: I refer the hon. Member for Blackpool South to the answer I gave on 11 December 2017 to Question 118003: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-12-06/118003/.

T-levels

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on developing the transition year for T Levels.

Anne Milton: Our ambition is for all young people to have the opportunity to study a technical qualification at level 3. We are developing a transition offer for those who have the potential to study for a T level but are not ready to do so. The transition offer will be a flexible programme with a strong focus on English and mathematics. We have recently sought feedback through public consultation on what other support we should consider as part of the programme. We will publish our response to the consultation in the spring.

Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of progress towards the Government’s target of 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020.

Anne Milton: We publish progress on the number of apprenticeships starts within the department’s further education and skills statistical first release, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr#2017-releases. The latest release was published on 22 February 2018. There have been over 1.2 million apprenticeship starts since May 2015 and we intend to achieve three million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the apprenticeship levy on apprenticeship starts at levels 2 and 3 since the release of the November 2017 apprenticeship starts statistics.

Anne Milton: Data for ‘Apprenticeships and Traineeships: January 2018’, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships-january-2018 show there have been 52,000 intermediate (Level 2) and 50,800 advanced (Level 3) apprenticeship starts so far in the 2017/18 academic year, which account for the majority of apprenticeship opportunities overall.

Ministry of Justice

Carillion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what savings his Department planned to make through the contract with Carillion compared with the projected cost of continuing to provide maintenance in-house in each year since 2015.

Rory Stewart: The original business case identified potential savings of c.£21m per annum in total, across both the Amey and Carillion contracts, the MITIE contract was in place at time of the business case.

Carillion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the liquidation of Carillion, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of providing prison maintenance in each of the next three years.

Rory Stewart: Given the recent liquidation of Carillion it is too early give an estimate of the cost of providing prison maintenance in each of the next 3 years.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the liquidation of Carillion, how much his Department is spending on prison maintenance.

Rory Stewart: HMPPS are expecting to spend £121.8m on prison maintenance in 2017-18, this would be the total expenditure across the three facilities management contracts covering Carillion, Amey and Mitie for fixed and variable costs . This prison maintenance spend includes costs for soft services such as landscaping, cleaning and the provision of stores facilities, depending on the scope of the contracts at individual sites.

Gov Facility Services: Recruitment

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has plans to recruit staff to work for Gov Facility Services Limited in addition to the staff that were transferred to that company from Carillion.

Rory Stewart: In addition to the staff that were transferred to that company from Carillion it is anticipated that Gov Facility Services Limited will be required to recruit staff once the company becomes operational to ensure the smooth transfer and continuity of service.

Ministry of Justice: Interserve

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times representatives of his Department have met with Interserve to discuss that company's performance in contracts with his Department since September 2017.

Rory Stewart: For the Total Facilities Management contract covering the probation estate which was in place during period Sept 17 – Jan 18, MoJ representatives meet with Interserve on a monthly basis to review performance.For the new Hard Facilities Management contract which commenced in January 2018, there are weekly checkpoint meetings which are operationally focused, reviewing: open orders; issues from last week; risks; Defect Notices, and identifying items for escalation to the monthly Commercial and Operations board which will be the main forum for the review of supplier performance.

Ministry of Justice: Interserve

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money his Department has paid to Interserve since September 2017.

Rory Stewart: The Interserve website and annual report provide publicly available information on the amount of money that they receive from central government and the wider public sector. Contract-specific information is commercially sensitive and cannot be released.

Ministry of Justice: Interserve

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has signed any new contracts with Interserve since September 2017.

Rory Stewart: Non-commercially sensitive information on contracts worth over £10,000 with MOJ and its agencies is published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder) and is publicly available.

Ministry of Justice: Interserve

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has agreed any extensions to existing contracts with Interserve since September 2017.

Rory Stewart: Non-commercially sensitive information on contracts worth over £10,000 with MOJ and its agencies is published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder) and is publicly available.

Ministry of Justice: Interserve

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times has his Department assessed the financial viability of Interserve since the profit warning issued by Interserve on 14 September 2017.

Rory Stewart: The Government applies due rigour when awarding all of its contracts. This ensures the best value and outcome for taxpayers. The Government continually monitors the health of all of its strategic suppliers.

Ministry of Justice: Capita

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made contingency plans for the possibility that Capita becomes unable to perform its duties under the contracts it has with the Department; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has in place a number of arrangements to ensure the effective management of contracts. Contingency plans are prepared in line with good contract management and standard industry practice. These are commercially sensitive and, as such, are not subject to release.

Ministry of Justice: Capita

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish all contracts held by Capita to deliver services to his Department, its agencies and arms-length bodies, including their (a) geographic coverage, (b) length, (c) value, (d) performance management arrangements and (d) adjustments made since the contract was signed and (e) any penalties levied to date.

Rory Stewart: Non-commercially sensitive information on contracts worth over £10,000 with MOJ and its agencies is published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder) and is publicly available.

Amey

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the repair rate reported by Amey for work completed at prisons where that company has a contract for facilities management.

Rory Stewart: The Department scrutinises reactive maintenance performance data on a monthly basis. Any discrepancies or concerns are identified to Amey. Private providers play an important role in maintaining the prison estate. Performance of all providers is closely monitored and we will not hesitate to take action where standards fall short.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to consult Scottish organisations on the Scottish Legal Aid system as part of the post-implementation review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Lucy Frazer: The legal aid system of Scotland is a devolved matter and is determined by the Scotland Act 1998.The LASPO post-implementation review is an evidence-based assessment of changes brought about by the legislation on the legal aid system in England and Wales. To this end, we will be analysing evidence and consulting with expert panels and interested parties. If there are any Scottish organisations interested in providing evidence for the post-implementation review, I would encourage them to contact my department to be involved in the process.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 125361 on Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, if his Department will include Scottish representation on the list of organisations and experts it plans to invite to submit evidence to the post-implementation review of that Act.

Lucy Frazer: The legal aid system of Scotland is a devolved matter and is determined by the Scotland Act 1998.The LASPO post-implementation review is an evidence-based assessment of changes brought about by the legislation on the legal aid system in England and Wales. To this end, we will be analysing evidence and consulting with expert panels and interested parties. If there are any Scottish organisations interested in providing evidence for the post-implementation review, I would encourage them to contact my department to be involved in the process.

Prisons: Sanitary Protection

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of feminine hygiene products to women in prison.

Dr Phillip Lee: There is a national product list that details the products and prices of items that prisoners can buy: this includes feminine hygiene items. Guidance on managing women prisoners states that women should be given any items required to meet essential personal needs for their first 24 hours in custody. Women also have access to a choice of sanitary provisions that are provided free of charge.

Young Offenders: Location

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average distance is between where a child in custody is located and where they were living before custody.

Dr Phillip Lee: The number of children and young people (under 18) in custody has fallen by 56% between 2011-12 and 2016-17.The average distance from home for children and young people in custody was 49 miles in 2015/16

Ministry of Justice: Training

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of his Department's employees who work directly with prisoners (a) have and (b) have not received suicide and self-harm prevention training.

Rory Stewart: All staff in contact with prisoners are required to receive training on suicide and self-harm prevention. The Introduction to Safer Custody course was replaced by the Introduction to Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention course, known as SASH, in May 2017. Like its predecessor courses, the SASH prevention course is being delivered to all new prison officers as part of their entry level training, to all new staff in other prisoner-facing roles, and to existing prison staff as part of their ongoing refresher training as required. The course aims to ensure that the case management support process for prisoners at risk of self-harm or suicide (known as ‘Assessment Care in Custody and Teamwork’ or ACCT) is carried out effectively in prisons, to provide a safe and decent environment for all. It comprises six modules, including mental health awareness training. Since the roll out of the revised SASH prevention course in April 2017, HMPPS has been monitoring its progress and collecting internal management information on the number of new and existing staff completing all or some of the modules. For the period April 2017 - January 2018, more than 14,300 new and existing HMPPS and non-HMPPS staff have been trained in at least one of the six modules, and over 6,800 new and existing staff have completed the training in full. This training is being delivered to all eligible staff. These figures therefore include all existing staff directly employed by HMPPS, and those employed by partner agencies and other service providers with prisoner-facing roles. Figures for the completion of the previous version of the training were not collected centrally; because of this, I am unable to give totals for all forms of safer custody training.

Young Offenders: Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of people who enter young offender institutions with drug and alcohol problems.

Dr Phillip Lee: Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) assess the needs and risks of young people entering under-18 Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). In the period April 2014 to March 2016, YOT assessments of young people entering YOIs showed that 45% had substance misuse concerns. This data is for admissions to custody. A young person may be admitted to custody more than once in the time period covered by the data. The YOT assessment of substance misuse is not limited to drug and alcohol problems but also includes use of tobacco. These assessments are an indication of the needs and risks of young people entering custody rather than formal diagnoses.

Proceeds of Crime

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money was ordered to be confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in each year since its enactment; and what proportion was collected in each of those years.

Lucy Frazer: The table below captures the value of all Confiscation orders granted under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 since its imposition. The data is based on the ‘current’ order amount which is the amount ordered by the court following any appeals or variations. The sum of total payments relates to the total amounts paid on those orders since they were imposed, not the total amounts paid on confiscation orders within that year. Similar data is published but is not limited to confiscation orders only made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. As high value orders are often complex and may involve hidden and overseas assets they can take many years to successfully enforce against, potentially utilising Receiverships or reciprocal enforcement arrangements with overseas authorities. The percentage collected is therefore higher in older orders because there has been more time to enforce. In addition, the time to pay period set by the court may not yet have expired for orders made in 2017 and 2018. YearSum of Current Order AmountSum of Total PaymentsPercentage collected2002£39,316.53£39,316.53100%2003£815, 711.15£759,170.6793%2004£11,716,088.83£10,062,884.6386%2005£32,718,307.77£28,155,729.1586%2006£51,164,744.09£41,609,372.3081%2007£118,084,388.63£61,526,211.2752%2008£113,180,575.48£69,691,897.8162%2009£113,055,870.95£79,632,578.2870%2010£152,844,581.76£98,631,957.4065%2011£150,322,850.53£110,043,365.4273%2012£229,119,613.65£124,091,196.2254%2013£203,710,073.01£138,692,216.9468%2014£212,026,970.34£135,069,555.8564%2015£189,051,477.20£112,693,117.5160%2016£388,409,324.42£120,415,398.5431%2017£193,427,145.85£84,801,787.8844%2018£60,244,529.31£1,910,101.993%Grand Total£2,219,115,858.35£1,217,825,858.3955%

Disability Living Allowance: Appeals

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have won an appeal against the withdrawal of their disability living allowance at a tribunal in the latest period for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: This information is not held centrally. Information about the volumes and outcomes of appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. The latest statistics can be viewed at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2017.

Prison Officers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money was spent from the public purse on (a) hotels and (b) other expenses for prison officers on detached duty in each month from January to June 2016.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money was spent from the public purse on (a) hotels and (b) other expenses for prison officers on detached duty in each month from July to December 2016.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money was spent from the public purse on (a) hotels and (b) other expenses for prison officers on detached duty in each month from January to June 2015.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money was spent from the public purse on (a) hotels and (b) other expenses for prison officers on detached duty in each month from July to December 2015.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money was spent from the public purse on (a) hotels and (b) other expenses for prison officers on detached duty in each month from January to June 2014.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money was spent from the public purse on (a) hotels and (b) other expenses for prison officers on detached duty in each month from July to December 2014.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money was spent from the public purse on (a) hotels and (b) other expenses for prison officers on detached duty in each month from January to June 2013.

Rory Stewart: Prison officers do a challenging and vital job to help protect the public and we are committed to making sure we have enough staff to deliver safe regimes in our prisons. Detached duty is one of the sensible and proportionate measures we take to cover resourcing pressures and ensure we run safe and decent regimes in prisons as well as being able to respond appropriately to any operational issues that arise. In 2016 the former Secretary of State announced HMPPS would be recruiting an additional 2,500 prison officers by December 2018. Good progress is being made to hit this target, with 1,970 additional officers recruited by 31st December 2017. These new staff will reduce the need for Detached Duty. When there is a need to accommodate staff in hotels, we work hard to ensure the best possible value for money for the taxpayer and have controls in place to help keep costs to a minimum. Where possible, bookings are for specifically timed trains and always in standard class to help keep costs to a minimum. We are able to provide data on hotels and rail bookings made through Redfern Travel Ltd only. Please see table attached for data from 2013 – 2017.

Domestic Violence

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to introduce (a) paired proximity GPS, (b) alcohol abstinence monitoring equipment and (c) other new tagging technology to protect victims of domestic violence through new electronic monitoring contracts.

Rory Stewart: The new electronic monitoring system under development will introduce GPS enabled location monitoring and is being designed on a flexible and scalable platform to allow for further new monitoring technologies to be introduced. The introduction of new monitoring technologies after the new system is in service in 2019 will depend on the evaluation of the benefits any new technology would provide. The learning from two alcohol monitoring schemes currently being piloted in the country will help inform any future decision to roll out alcohol monitoring technology nationally.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform the personal injury discount rate.

Rory Stewart: On 30 November the Justice Select Committee published its report ‘Pre-legislative scrutiny: draft personal injury discount rate clause’, in response to the Government’s draft legislation. The Government will publish its response to the Committee’s report and stakeholder comments received on the draft legislation together with details of how it intends to proceed as soon as possible after it has reached conclusions on the way forward.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received on the effect of the personal injury discount rate on the affordability of motor insurance.

Rory Stewart: On 7 September 2017, the Ministry of Justice published and invited comments on draft legislation that would, if enacted, change the way in which the discount rate is set. Following publication of the draft legislation, representations have been received from a range of stakeholder groups, including a number from insurance companies which included comments on the effects of the change to the discount rate in March 2017 on motor insurance premiums.

Carillion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, how much his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2017 in prisons with a contract with Carillion.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, how much his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2017 in prisons with a contract with Amey.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, on how many occasions his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2017 in prisons with a contract with Carillion.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, on how many occasions his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2017 in prisons with a contract with Amey.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, how much his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2016 in prisons with a contract with Carillion.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, how much his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2015 in prisons with a contract with Carillion.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, how much his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2016 in prisions with a contract with Amey.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, on how many occasions his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2016 in prisons with a contract with Carillion.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, on how many occasions his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2015 in prisons with a contract with Amey.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, on how many occasions his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2016 in prisons with a contract with Amey.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125576 and the Answer of 9 February 2018 to Question 126482, on prisons: repairs and maintenance, how much his Department paid for (a) repairs due to the wear and tear being over £750 and (b) repairs required due to vandalism in 2015 in prisons with a contract with Amey.

Rory Stewart: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The requested information is not recorded in the format requested and would require manually searching through thousands of lines of data

Legal Aid Scheme: Refugees

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what post-legislative scrutiny his Department has carried out on the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 as it relates to legal aid for refugee sponsors seeking family reunion.

Lucy Frazer: Legal aid is not generally available for UK residents to re-unite with their family members from overseas. The Government policy on legal aid continues to be that limited legal aid resources are made available for the highest priority cases and to the most financially vulnerable. Applying for family reunion does not require specialist legal advice. Guidance to support applications for family reunion is available from UK Visas and Immigration. Not every case will be straightforward and, as with all cases outside the scope of legal aid, exceptional funding may be available where required under ECHR or EU law. The Lord Chancellor announced the Post Legislative Memorandum (PLM) and Post Implementation Review (PIR) to the Justice Select Committee on 25 October 2017 and the PLM was then laid on 30 October alongside a written Ministerial statement by Dominic Raab MP announcing the commencement of the PIR.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 26 February 2018



Non departmental public bodies were asked to apply sensible judgment when providing supplier information in the absence of a specific timeframe. All suppliers are Crown Commercial Services' Non-Medical Non-Clinical framework approved. OrganisationStatusSuppliers UsedCommentPlanning Inspectorate (PINS)Executive AgencyArtemis Search, Reed, Hays Specialist Recruitment, Methods Professional Services Ltd, Allen LaneSuppliers used to recruit specialist IT staff (permanent contracts) and Agency staffQueen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEII)Executive AgencyAdmiral Group, Goodman Massons, AV Jobs, ESP RecruitmentQEII have been unable to fill roles due to high demand in their job market, therefore Agencies used to recruit specialist Event Industry and AV/Technical staff.Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC)NDPBNoneNo requirementHomes England (HE)NDPBAdecco UK Ltd, Badenoch & Clark, Brook Street, Computer Future Solutions, Depoel Managed Services Ltd, Digital Dragons Global Ltd, Evisa Solutions Ltd, Hays Accountancy & Finance, Malikshaw Limited, Morgan Hunt, Odgers Berndtson, Reed Business Information Ltd, Reed Employment PLC, Sellick Partnership LimitedAccess to 160 different suppliers, allow of which are CCS Non-Medical Non-Clinical framework approved. Named list based on suppliers used within the last 12 monthsHousing Ombudsman Service (HOS)NDPBBadenoch and Clarke, LAW Absolute, Morgan Hunt, Robertson Bell, Venn Group, Goodman Masson, Hays, Morgan Law, ReedSupplier list based on current and previous assignmentsLeasehold Advisory Service (LEASE)NDPBLAW Absolute, Hays Specialist Recruitment Ltd, Michael PageSeldom need to recruit contingent labour. Most recently used suppliers provided.Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS)NDPBReedOther CCS Non-Medical Non-Clinical Framework suppliers would be considered in the event of recruiting specialist professional staff

Rented Housing: Young People

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the average cost of renting a property for people under the age of 25 in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Department collects information on the cost of renting in the English Housing Survey. In 2015-16, the latest period for which figures are available, the average weekly cost of renting a property in the private rented sector for those aged 16-34 was £190 per week and the average rent in the social rented sector for those aged 16-34 was £101. The Department does not publish estimates for those aged under 25.These figures can be found in the 2015-16 English Housing Survey housing costs and affordability report: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2015-to-2016-housing-costs-and-affordability

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Fair Trade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of his Department's spend on day-to-day goods comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

Jake Berry: The information requested is not held centrally. Day to day food products are purchased by an external catering supplier.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to which organisations his Department has outsourced functions since 2011.

Jake Berry: Please see the attached list of organisations to which the Department has outsources services since 2011.



List of Organisations
(Word Document, 27.5 KB)

Housing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review the effectiveness of  the objectively assessed need formula for housing.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Supported Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the effect on the financial resilience of people living in supported housing was considered in drawing up proposals to introduce rent-free supported housing; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The proposed funding model for short-term supported housing changes the source of funding from welfare benefits to a local grant fund. In housing benefit, the payment is, in practice, normally made direct to the landlord for those living in supported housing, and this is exactly the same in the proposed funding model for short-term supported housing. In either case the individual is responsible for paying any ineligible service charges and incidental costs.

Housing Estates: Regeneration

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's explanatory memorandum to its Supplementary Estimate 2017-18, how much funding remains allocated to estate regeneration in each financial year from 2018-19.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

First Time Buyers

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's explanatory memorandum to its Supplementary Estimate 2017-18, how much funding remains allocated to starter homes in each financial  year from 2018-19.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Food: Testing

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many public analysts were employed by his Department in each of the last five years.

Jake Berry: Figures for the number of analysts, excluding data collection staff (headcount) for the latest five years are as follows:2013/141312014/151272015/161262016/171462017/18154

Local Government: Dorset

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the library a copy of all the representations he has received from local authorities in Dorset on local government reorganisation since 7 November 2017.

Rishi Sunak: I am placing in the Library of the House copies of all the representations which the Secretary of State has received from local authorities in Dorset on local government reorganisation since 7 November 2017.

Ministry of Defence

Cyprus and Gibraltar: Ports

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the protection of its port facilities in (a) Gibraltar and (b)  Cyprus.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not comment on specific security arrangements of its estate, but assesses that adequate protection is provided of its port facilities in Her Majesty's Naval Base Gibraltar.The MOD does not have a port in the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus.

Ministry of Defence: Land

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121593, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of time that Ministry of Defence land near Eelmoor Training Area will be unavailable to the public for recreational purposes as a result of (a) military training, (b) public safety, (c) security, (d) conservation and (e) the interests of tenants on that land.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Land at Long Valley Training area, which includes Eelmoor is unavailable for public recreational use for approximately 320 days each year as a result of military training.A breakdown of the 320 days into military training, public safety, security, conservation and the interests of tenants is not recorded separately.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel have been deployed on Operation Orbital in each year since that operation began.

Mark Lancaster: The number of UK instructors deployed on Op ORBITAL for each financial year is as follows: Financial Year2015-162016-172017-18Deployed Personnel712610312 These figures may include individual instructors deploying on multiple occasions. In addition, the Operation ORBITAL headquarters has consisted of 12-14 personnel throughout this period.

Eastern Europe: Armed Forces

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel have been deployed on Operation Cabrit since it began.

Mark Lancaster: The number of personnel deployed on Op CABRIT for each financial year is as follows: Financial Year2016-172017-18Deployed Personnel3802,539 These figures include two rotations of the UK Battlegroup in Estonia and Squadron in Poland, as well as surges in support of training and exercises and short term visits to the operation. The number of UK personnel routinely deployed on Op CABRIT at any given time is around 800 in Estonia and 150 in Poland.

Eastern Europe: Armed Forces

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether personnel deployed on Operation Cabrit receive the (a) Longer Separation Allowance and (b) Local Overseas Allowance.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether personnel deployed on Operation Orbital receive the (a) Longer Separation Allowance and (b) Local Overseas Allowance.

Mark Lancaster: Personnel deployed on Operations ORBITAL and CABRIT are in receipt of the Deployable Welfare Package, which includes Longer Separation Allowance. This means they are not eligible for a Local Overseas Allowance.

Eastern Europe: Military Decorations

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to award a medal for personnel serving as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: As with all operations on which we ask our personnel to deploy, the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence deployment will be kept under constant review, and a decision on whether to award a medal, or seek permission to wear any medal awarded by NATO, will be taken when it is appropriate.

Department for Work and Pensions

Attendance Allowance

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of replacing the six-month qualifying period for attendance allowance with a supporting statement from a medical professional confirming a long-term disability.

Sarah Newton: Entitlement to Attendance Allowance is based on the on-going need for frequent personal care and attention, or supervision to ensure personal safety, rather than on the individual’s medical condition. The six-month qualifying period helps establish that the disability and the resulting care or supervision needs are of a long-term nature, and ensures the benefit goes to those for whom it is intended. The Government believes the current long-standing rules of a six month qualifying period are working well. Severely disabled people do not always have to wait for six months from the date of their claim before they become entitled to the benefit. The Decision Maker will always look at whether, and for how long, the severely disabled person has required the necessary level of care or supervision before the date of claim, and consider whether some or all of the qualifying period has already been completed. For people who have a progressive disease and are not expected to live longer than another six months, there is no requirement to meet the 6 month qualifying period.

Social Security Benefits: Mental Health

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what level of training is offered to decision-makers in his Department on better understanding the mental health situation of claimants.

Sarah Newton: The DWP provides role specific training which allows decision makers to reach decisions using a wide range of evidence, and in accordance with the relevant law. They work closely with Health Care Professionals, who undertake medical assessments and supply medical information and evidence to enable a decision to be reached.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department’s response to Freedom of Information request 378/2016, for what reasons transitional arrangements No. 22 and 23 of Table A have not been costed.

Guy Opperman: Table A shows all of the options considered by the Government during the passage of the Pensions Act 2011. At the time the options were prioritised for costing, and those which were less specific in scope were not costed.

Department for Work and Pensions: Fairtrade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of her Department's spend on day-to-day goods has comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

Kit Malthouse: Information on what proportion of the Department's spend on day-to-day goods has comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years is not held on the Department’s e-procurement system.

Department for Work and Pensions: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to which organisations her Department has outsourced functions since 2011.

Kit Malthouse: The Department is unable to answer the question as our e-procurement system only holds contractual information where the Department has entered into a contractual relationship with a supplier. This does not identify if a function is outsourced.

Department for Work and Pensions: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of workers employed directly by her Department belonged to a trade union in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Kit Malthouse: The check off facility for the deduction of trade union subscriptions from departmental employees pay ended 30 April 2015. An accurate figure for the percentage of employees who are trade union members for the period requested is not held by the Department.

Department for Work and Pensions: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were employed directly by her Department on zero-hour contracts in each of the last eight years.

Kit Malthouse: The Department for Work and Pensions has no employees on zero hours contracts currently or in the last 8 years.

Department for Work and Pensions: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what percentage of employees in her Department worked (a) in departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) at any other location in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

Kit Malthouse: DWP employs over 83,000 people who are contracted to work on Departmental accommodation. Working from home and other locations is permissible providing DWP data is kept secure, but this is exceptional and subject to business needs. DWP does not hold central records of the numbers of employees who work from home or at other locations and the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the number of UK pensioners who live overseas who will return to live in the UK due to the lack of uprating to state pensions.

Guy Opperman: The decision to move abroad is voluntary and remains a personal choice dependent on the circumstances of the individual. The policy on up-rating UK state pensions overseas is a long-standing policy of successive Governments. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide without regard to nationality to those people who meet the eligibility criteria and are up-rated for recipients resident abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so. HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions publish information on the effect of moving abroad on the State Pension which is available at: www.gov.uk.

Social Security Benefits: Correspondence

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 126941, on Social Security Benefits: Correspondence, if the Government will take steps to address the disparity whereby Capita may use second class post to send a seven-day notification of an assessment to a claimant while Maximus and Atos-operated bodies do not use second class.

Sarah Newton: It is departmental policy that claimants are given sufficient notice of any appointment to attend for an assessment. DWP do not specify what class of postage Assessment Providers must use. Every case returned by Capita where the claimant has not attended the PIP assessment is checked to ensure that they have had the full 7 days notice, ensuring that no one is penalised where this has not been the case.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women in (a) Dwyfor Meirionnydd, (b) Wales and (c) the UK will not receive the new state pension as a result of failing to meet the National Insurance Contributions threshold.

Guy Opperman: The new State Pension (nSP) was introduced for people reaching State Pension age from 6th April 2016 onwards. To qualify, people usually need to have a minimum of ten years on their National Insurance record when they reach State Pension age. Our latest data on the number of qualifying years people have are for the 2015/16 financial year, so we do not yet have any data on the numbers of people reaching State Pension age under the new State Pension with less than 10 years of National Insurance contributions. Our analysis published in January 2016 forecast that around 2% of women in Great Britain reaching State Pension age by 2020 would have less than 10 qualifying years. Subject to qualification, Pension Credit may be available for people who are not eligible for the new State Pension.

Fuel Poverty: Wolverhampton

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty in (a) Wolverhampton local authority area and (b) Wolverhampton North East constituency; how many Cold Weather Payments have been issued to people in each of those areas; and how many people have benefitted from the Warm Home Discount Scheme in each of those areas.

Kit Malthouse: The table below provided by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy shows the number and proportion of households living in fuel poverty in Wolverhampton Local Authority area and Wolverhampton North East constituency for the latest data available (2015).  Fuel Poor HouseholdsPercent Fuel PoorWolverhampton Local Authority area15,20014.6%Wolverhampton North East constituency5,40014.6%Household figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. The Cold Weather Payment scheme is administered at weather station level rather than any other standard GB geography such as constituency level. The coverage area for each weather station is determined by the Met Office which assesses the most appropriate weather station for each postcode area. Cold weather payments are triggered when the average temperature recorded at the weather station has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0oC or below over seven consecutive days, during the Cold Weather season (November to March). The Wolverhampton local authority area covers all or part of the following postcode areas: WV1-4, WV6, WV8-14. The constituency of Wolverhampton North East covers all or part of the following postcode areas: WV 1-4, WV 7-9, WV 10-13. All of the above postcode areas are covered by the Coleshill weather station. Qualifying individuals living in this area will have received a payment in respect of a seven-day period of Cold Weather from 24th February – 2nd March 2018. No other payments have been triggered in the Coleshill weather station area in the current Cold Weather season. Coleshill weather station covers the following postcode areas: B1-21, B23-38, B40, B42-50, B60-80, B90-98, CV1-12, CV21-23, CV31-35, CV37, CV47, DY1-14, LE10, WS1-15, WV1-16. We estimate that 289,000 payments were made in this area as a whole in respect of the trigger on 24th February. We are not able to break this figure down to a lower level. Notes The number of payments given here is an estimate as information on the exact number of payments made is not readily available. These figures are produced by determining the volume of eligible recipients in each weather station area at the start of the winter season and using these figures throughout the winter to estimate payments and expenditure based on the actual triggers recorded. The number of payments made is not necessarily the total number of individuals benefitting from a Cold Weather Payment. Any individuals making a joint claim for one of the qualifying benefits, such as a couple living together, will receive one payment between them rather than one payment each. Estimates of Cold Weather Payments are published weekly during the Cold Weather season. The latest published estimates can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cold-weather-payment-statistics-2017-to-2018 The Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy do not hold data on Warm Home Discount recipients at Local Authority or Parliamentary Constituency level.

Universal Credit

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the childcare payment support element of Universal Credit on the ability of claimants of Universal Credit to access 30 hours of fee childcare in areas where it has been rolled out.

Alok Sharma: No assessment has been made on this specific issue. Support for childcare costs, on top of the 30 hours free entitlement, is available through Universal Credit. Up to 85% of costs are within scope, in contrast to 70% in tax credits.

Universal Credit: Scotland

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on the household finances of low-income families in Scotland of the roll-out of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: When fully rolled out, Universal Credit will support low income families with around £60 billion a year across the whole of the United Kingdom. The Department has made no assessment in Scotland specifically. However we continue to evaluate progress as we roll out Universal Credit nationally in a careful and co-ordinated way, reviewing against key measures, to ensure safe and secure delivery.

Mortgages: Wakefield

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in Wakefield constituency his Department has written to regarding the change in Support for Mortgage Interest from a benefit to a loan.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not hold the data requested. The data needed to make robust estimates of the number of recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) at geographies smaller than Government Office Region is not available to Departmental analysts.

Mortgages: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in each Government Office region in Scotland receive support for mortgage interest; and how many of those people also receive (a) employment support allowance, (b) personal independence payments and (c) jobseeker’s allowance.

Kit Malthouse: Information on the number of Support for Mortgage Interest claimants in Scotland is published here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-02-19/128199/. The table below provides the Department’s estimate of the caseload of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) claiming ESA and JSA in Scotland. SMI and Employment and Support AllowanceSMI and Job Seeker’s AllowanceScotland5,000- Notes:Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000 cases. ‘-’ denotes under 500 cases.DWP does not hold a single source of data on SMI claims to analyse and quality assured data is not available for ESA claimants receiving SMI.In the absence of data the caseload of ESA and JSA claimants in Scotland has been estimated by assuming the claimant breakdown in Scotland is proportionally the same as the GB-level breakdown published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables.Robust estimates are not available on SMI claimants in receipt of Personal Independence Payment in Scotland or at geographies smaller than Scotland level.

Revenue and Customs: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the proposed transfer of staff employed by HMRC at its Waterfront offices in Dudley to the Department for Work and Pensions has been cancelled.

Alok Sharma: The planning assumptions to transfer some HMRC staff to the Department for Work and Pensions to support the delivery of Universal Credit were made some years ago, and since then, we have changed the way Universal Credit is delivered. Jobcentres are now joined up with Universal Credit Service Centres in local areas to provide a more seamless service for claimants. This, alongside high levels of employment and an increase in levels of self-service and automation, means that the Department’s resourcing needs in certain areas and for larger centralised offices have changed. However, it was always expected that less people would be needed to support Universal Credit than the benefits and tax credits that it replaces.

Private Rented Housing: Housing Benefit

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many landlords received housing benefit payments in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014, (e) 2015, (f) 2016 and (g) 2017.

Kit Malthouse: Information on the number of individual landlords receiving housing benefit (HB) payments is not available as our administrative data does not hold a unique identification number for each landlord. However, the number of HB claims where payment was made direct to the landlord is available via the Payment Destination breakdown of HB claimants on DWP Stat-Xplore. Guidance for users is available at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Personal Independence Payment

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has in place to ensure that (a) people are informed when their personal independence payment assessment meeting is cancelled and (b) such meetings are re-arranged as soon as possible.

Sarah Newton: The PIP Assessment Providers are responsible for the scheduling and management of face to face assessments. While both Providers endeavour to avoid cancellations, unfortunately there will be situations where this is unavoidable, for example if an assessor is ill. When an assessment is cancelled both Providers will contact claimants as soon as possible to reschedule the assessment.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the timeliness of state pension payments to UK nationals living abroad whose payments have been outsourced to an American Bank.

Guy Opperman: The payment of state pensions to UK nationals has not been outsourced. Benefit and pension payments are dispersed to overseas customers on their due date in accordance with clearance times stipulated by each countries international clearing house. These can fluctuate between 2 and 11 days, depending on the countries processing regulations.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has outsourced the payment of state pensions for UK nationals who live abroad to a bank based in the United States.

Guy Opperman: The Payment of state pensions to UK nationals has not been outsourced. The Department for Work and Pensions continues to make assessments for all customer benefits. When issuing benefits and pensions to customers overseas, the Department has to use a sponsor bank to facilitate the payments. The Department’s current banking provider for overseas payments is Citibank N.A (London Branch). The Bulk Foreign Exchange Services contract is contracted by HM Revenue & Customs through the office of Government Banking on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions. Benefit and pension payments to overseas countries are forwarded by Citibank to the appropriate country’s clearing service which then disperses them directly to the customer’s chosen bank.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what date her Department estimates that the processing of SMI replacement loans claims by Serco will be completed.

Kit Malthouse: Serco do not undertake SMI loan processing being contracted solely to provide information to claimants in the form of letters, leaflets and telephone ‘Informed Discussions’. These Informed Discussions will continue to be offered to new applicants who are eligible for the SMI loan.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of Serco’s rate of processing SMI replacement loan applications in the last 12 months.

Kit Malthouse: Serco do not undertake SMI loan processing being contracted solely to provide information to claimants in the form of letters, leaflets and telephone ‘Informed Discussions’. Serco have made 338,000 call attempts, with 275,000 being successful contacts since July 2017.

Department for Work and Pensions: Public Opinion

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of public attitudes towards the (a) disabled, (b) unemployed and (c) elderly.

Kit Malthouse: The Department uses the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSAS) to understand public attitudes towards welfare for different groups of the population. BSAS provides a unique opportunity to follow attitudinal trends by collecting representative data from British adults annually. The Department has part-funded BSAS, conducted and published by NatCen, annually since 1983.The NatCen’s 34th annual BSAS report (2017; http://natcen.ac.uk/our-research/research/british-social-attitudes/) found that the proportion of people prioritising more spending or increasing the benefits for disabled people has risen from 60% in 2014 to 64% in 2016) compared to a decline in support for retirement benefits from 67% in 2014 to 60% in 2016. However, the unemployed are consistently viewed as low priority, with only around 13% prioritising them.

Vacancies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the total number of job vacancies per income decile in each of the last five years in (a) Wales and (b) the rest of the UK.

Alok Sharma: The latest official data available from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that there are currently 823,000 vacancies in the UK, a record number. However, the ONS does not publish vacancies data per income decile, nor does it publish vacancies data at a regional or sub-regional level. This means it is not possible to calculate the total number of job vacancies per income decile for Wales or for the rest of the UK over the last five years.

New Enterprise Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of self-employment claimants who will start receiving the new enterprise allowance each month once the universal credit full service is fully rolled-out.

Alok Sharma: The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) is contracted to end in March 2019, before the scheduled completion date for the rollout of Universal Credit (UC) in 2022. We are currently exploring options regarding our self-employment support offer for post-2019. Over the years 2017 to 2019 the latest phase of the NEA scheme has provided the following support to self-employed people: - 86,154 places on Link-Up: Start-Up workshops for people considering self-employment;- 56,000 mentoring places for people wanting to start a new business; and- 24,000 mentoring places for UC claimants who are already self-employed and needadditional support to grow their earnings.

Personal Independence Payment

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has issued on conducting PIP assessments of people with degenerative diseases.

Sarah Newton: The Personal Independence Payment Assessment Guide provides comprehensive guidance for Health Professionals regarding all aspects of the assessment process, including for claimants with progressive conditions. The guide is updated regularly and published on GOV.UK

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2018 to Question 128116, on State Retirement Pensions: Females, what steps her Department plans to take to address the outstanding complaints in a timely fashion and whether she (a) is seeking more funding for that purpose and (b) plans to appoint more investigator staff.

Kit Malthouse: The Independent Case Examiner’s Office has established a dedicated team of investigation case managers from within existing resources, to examine this group of complaints. The resources allocated to the Office are reviewed on an annual basis; however, there are no plans to seek additional funding or appoint more investigation staff to consider this group of complaints.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2018 to Question 128116, on State Retirement Pensions: Females, how many complaints have been dismissed while undergoing checks to establish if they can be accepted for examination since 2 October 2017.

Kit Malthouse: Between 2 October 2017 and 20 February 2018, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office declined to accept 243 complaints concerning the equalisation of State Pension age, as a result of checks to see if the complaint could be accepted for examination.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints received by the Independent Complaint Examiner on the equalisation of the state pension age since 2 October 2017; and how many of these complaints (a) have been resolved and (b) were not progressed to investigation.

Kit Malthouse: We have interpreted this question as a request for information about: the number of complaints received about the equalisation of State Pension age between 2 October 2017 and 27 February 2018; the number investigations concluded into complaints about the equalisation of State Pension age between 2 October 2017 and 27 February 2018; and the total number of complaints about the equalisation of State Pension retirement age outstanding at 27 February 2018 (including those undergoing checks to determine whether the complaint can be accepted for examination; those awaiting examination; and those being investigated). Between 2 October 2017 and 27 February 2018 the Independent Case Examiner’s Office received 1,476 complaints and concluded 52 investigations into complaints about the equalisation of State Pension age. On 27 February 2018, the Office had 2,492 outstanding complaints about the equalisation of state pension retirement age.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the average number of complaints reported to the Independent Case Examiner on the equalisation of the state pension age per month since 2 October 2017.

Kit Malthouse: Since October 2017, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office has received on average 295 complaints a month concerning the equalisation of State Pension age.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what resources are available to the Independent Case Examiner for investigating complaints on the equalisation of the state pension age in terms of (a) number of staff, (b) operating budget and (c) cross departmental resources.

Kit Malthouse: The Independent Case Examiner’s Office does not have a dedicated operating budget, or cross departmental resource available, for processing complaints concerning the equalisation of State Pension age. However there is a dedicated team of three investigation case managers tasked with investigating this group of complaints.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Microplastics: Marine Environment

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to include steps on microplastic fibres pollution as part of its work on reducing the effect of plastic waste.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: As part of the work on reducing the effect of plastic waste and to prioritise areas for further action, Defra has been reviewing documented sources of microplastic pollution entering the environment. It is clear that microplastics in various forms, including microplastic fibres arising from laundering textiles, are a significant source of freshwater and marine litter around the world. Other sources also need to be considered to help reduce the amount of plastic waste entering the environment. There are Evidence gaps in this area so we have commissioned research which will inform future policy options to further reduce the impact of plastic waste.

Agriculture: Migrant Workers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many workers from (a) non-UK EU countries and (b) other countries were employed in the (i) Welsh and (ii) the British agricultural sector in each of the last six years.

George Eustice: Defra does not collect data on the nationality of those employed in agriculture for the individual countries of the UK, including Wales. It does have information on the number of non-UK EU nationals (EU27) in the Agriculture sector collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of the Annual Population Survey (APS). ONS has published data only for 2010, 2013 and 2016, available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/adhocs/007098numberofworkersinfoodchainsectorsbynationalityukeuandnoneuincludingfurtherbreakdownsuk2010to2016/defraadhocaps201020132016.xls The APS excludes non-permanent residents (ie. seasonal workers) and does not sample communal establishments. The number of non-EU workers is unavailable due to small sample size.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Fairtrade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of his Department's spend on day-to-day goods has comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

George Eustice: Defra’s finance system does not record whether a supplier provides fair trade products. To ascertain whether such products have been provided would require the manual examination of thousands of transactions. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff on zero hour contracts were employed directly by their Department in each of the last eight years.

George Eustice: The breakdown of staff employed in the department in each of the last eight years is shown below. Data is shown as at 31 March each year, except for the 2017/18 financial year which is shown as at 31 January 2018.   Headcount 2017/182016/172015/162014/152013/142012/1320/11122010/11Full-Time Payroll staff30151678146018181804189919022238Part-Time Payroll staff548272238268264272262315Total Payroll Staff35631950196820862068217121642553Temporary staff(non-payroll)3391217598917373119Zero-Hours00000000Total All Staff39022071204321842159224422372672   Increases in payroll staff and temporary (non-payroll) numbers between 2016/17 and 2017/18 are due to recruitment to support EU Exit, corporate services transformation and prioritisation of work between the Arm’s Length Bodies / Executive Agencies and the department to support work on EU Exit.   It is not Defra Policy to employ staff on “Zero-Hours” contracts.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of workers employed directly by his Department belonged to a trade union in each of the last five years for which data is available.

George Eustice: The “check off” facility, which allowed for the deduction of trade union subscriptions from departmental employees pay, ended on 31 January 2015. Therefore a complete set of data to give an accurate figure for the percentage of employees who were trade union members for the period requested is not held by the department. At the point of check off removal on 31 January 2015, Defra and its agencies had approximately 36% of employees paying trade union subscriptions through check off.

Circuses: Animal Welfare

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the steps the Government is taking to improve the welfare of  animals in circuses.

George Eustice: The welfare of wild animals in travelling circuses in England is protected by the Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012. The 2012 Regulations have recently been reviewed by Defra. The review found that the Regulations have been successful in promoting and monitoring high welfare standards for wild animals in travelling circuses in England. The Regulations will expire on 19 January 2020. The Government does not intend to renew the Regulations as it intends to ensure that a legislative ban is introduced by then. The welfare of other animals in circuses is covered by new regulations laid in Parliament on 8 February that will replace existing laws on performing animals. The new regulations will mean circuses will need to adhere to strict statutory minimum animal welfare standards, which will be enforced by local authorities. The new regulations will come into force on 1 October.

Air Pollution

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of adopting World Health Organisation-recommended limits on the emission of particulate matter (a) PM2.5 and (b) PM10.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse, Jim Fitzpatrick, on 16 February 2018, PQ 126553.

Food: Inspections

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many public analysts were employed by his Department in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Circuses: Wild Animals

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many wild animals of each species are licensed for use in travelling circuses in (a) England and (b) the rest of the UK.

George Eustice: There are currently 18 wild animals licensed by Defra for use by travelling circuses in England. The 18 wild animals are 6 Reindeer; 3 Camels; 3 Zebra; 3 Racoons; 1 Fox; 1 Macaw; and 1 Zebu. There are no similar licensing schemes for wild animals in travelling circuses in the rest of the UK.

Home Office

Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions were made relating to offences committed under the Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 in the last two years for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of arrests for notifiable offences on a financial year basis. The Home Office collects and publishes these data at the offence group level, for example, ‘Sexual offences’ or ‘Miscellaneous crimes against society’. More detailed information on the specific offence or the act under which the individual is arrested is not collected.Data on the number of arrests are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-walesInformation on convictions is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

Antisocial Behaviour

Dr Caroline Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Section 59 warnings were issued in each area in England each year from 2014 to the last year for which data is available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold data on the number of Section 59 warnings issued by the police in England and Wales.

Hare Coursing

Dr Caroline Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many dogs and vehicles relating to hare coursing were confiscated in each police area in England in each year from 2014 to the last year for which data is available.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office does not hold the information requested.The enforcement of the Hunting Act 2004 is an operational matter for the police.

Fire Stations: West Midlands

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many operational fire stations there have been in the West Midlands in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office publishes station numbers, provided by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables

Fire and Rescue Services: West Midlands

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many firefighters per 100,000 residents there were in the West Midlands in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes firefighter statistics and publishes population statistics for fire and rescue authorities using the Office for National Statistics’ Mid Year Estimates.The former are currently available to March 2017 and the latter to June 2016 and can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables in tables FIRE1101 and FIRE1401.

West Midlands Fire Service: Finance

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the West Midlands Fire Authority on funding for the West Midlands Fire Service.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government consulted all Local Authorities on the provisional Local Government Settlement which was published in December 2017. All responses were considered in advance of laying the Final Local Government Settlement which was debated and approved by the House on 7 February.

Police Stations: West Midlands

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many operational police stations there were in the West Midlands in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold this information. Decisions about the most effective use of available resources, including the number and operating hours of police stations, are a matter for Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables locally, tailored to the needs of the local community.

Fire and Rescue Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has of trends in the comparative number of (a) incidents attended by fire services and (b) fire-fighters in (i) the West Midlands and (ii) England.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes firefighter and incident attended statistics. The former are currently available to March 2017 and the latter to September 2017 and can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables in tables FIRE0102 and FIRE1101.

Home Office: Fair Trade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of her Department's spend on day-to-day goods comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

Victoria Atkins: The information requested is not held centrally.

Home Office: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to which organisations her Department has outsourced functions since 2011.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has since 2010, published details of its contracts over £10,000 on the Pan-Gov’t Contracts Finder portal, as part of the HMT Transparency Agenda.The link to the portal is as follows: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Home Office: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of workers employed directly by her Department belonged to a trade union in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office does not hold this data. All of those Home Office employees who belong to a trade union now pay their subscriptions direct to these unions by direct debit. The Home Office therefore does not have access to this membership information.The check-off trade union subscription facility, which enabled trade union members to have their membership subscriptions deducted via the departmental payroll, was removed in January 2015. Check-off records would have provided incomplete data on the number of employees belonging to a trade union as some trade union members would have been subscribing to their union by other means, such as direct debit.

Home Office: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were employed directly by her Department on zero-hours contracts in each of the last eight years.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office does not directly employ anyone on zero-hour contracts.

Hillsborough Families' Experiences Review

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to implement the recommendations set out in the report, The patronising disposition of unaccountable power, by Right Rev James Jones on the Hillsborough disaster.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department is providing to the families of Hillsborough disaster victims.

Mr Nick Hurd: The points of learning made by Bishop James Jones in his report span a number of government departments and organisations who are considering their respective responses. The Home Office is coordinating those responses and the Government will therefore provide a full response in due course. In doing so we must be mindful that nothing is done which might prejudice the ongoing criminal proceedings.With those proceedings underway, it is important that the Hillsborough families continue receiving support and arrangements are in place to allow this to be maintained.The Crown Prosecution Service will keep the families informed regarding developments with trials and court hearings. Hillsborough families will also be entitled to support offered by the Government-funded court-based Witness Service, which provides emotional and practical support, advice and information, regardless of whether or not they are witnesses.

Health Professions: Vacancies

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made whether all medical professionals should be included on the shortage occupation list; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) advises the Government on changes to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). The MAC has determined that a number of medical professionals, including all nurses, paramedics and various doctors, including posts in emergency medicine, clinical radiology and old age psychiatry, are in national shortage and they appear on the published SOL in Appendix K of the Immigration Rules.The SOL sits under Tier 2, our main immigration route for non-EEA workers. Applications for jobs on the SOL receive the highest priority – and the highest number of points – when allocating a Tier 2 (General) place.The SOL is kept under regular review, with the most recent changes made to it last April.

Migrant Workers

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) occupations and (b) salaries bands were of foreign workers granted exceptional consideration for certificates of sponsorship under the Tier 2 visa scheme in December 2017.

Caroline Nokes: The specific information that has been requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.Certificates of Sponsorship may only be granted under exceptional consideration if the application scores enough points that it could have been granted under the previous monthly allocation.

Police: Football

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with police forces on the cost of policing football matches.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of Premier League football clubs covering the total cost of the policing of football matches.

Mr Nick Hurd: We have provided a strong and comprehensive settlement that will increase funding by up to £450m across the police system for 2018/19. This will enable an increase of up to £270m in funding going directly to PCCs. This settlement reflects conversations I have had with police leaders, and the evidence they have provided on changing demand.Event organisers are responsible for the safety and security of their events, but they are able to request ‘Special Police Services’ from the relevant police force, which the force can charge for.

Police

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the HMIC report on Police Effectiveness 2016, whether she plans to issue further guidance on the use of the investigation outcome type 16, evidential difficulties: victim does not support police action.

Mr Nick Hurd: The National Police Chiefs’ Council are currently consulting forces on the extent to which additional guidance would be useful. The Home Office will carefully consider any proposals brought forward.The outcomes framework provides police forces with valuable data that we expect them to examine rigorously in order to understand and identify how the way in which investigations are progressed can be improved, and ensure that victims are being supported.

Asylum: Children

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 125391, whether she plans to publish the number of children transferred from the Calais refugee camp since the Transfers of children to the UK from the Calais Operation: November 2017 report.

Caroline Nokes: In 2016, we transferred 769 unaccompanied children to the UK as part of the UK’s comprehensive support to the Calais camp clearance. The support we provided to France during the clearance of the camp was in response to an urgent humanitarian situation and the publication of data relating to the operation was a one-off.Both the UK and France are agreed on the importance of avoiding the formation of any new camps in northern France. The UK and France signed a Treaty on 19 January, in which we agreed a new ‘whole of route’ joint package of co-operation on migration, aimed at further strengthening our shared border, combating organised crime and working together to reduce the number of illegal migrants at the northern French ports. The Treaty includes measures to ensure those migrants who have travelled to northern France are able to claim asylum quickly. Any children who are present in Calais or the surrounding area should claim asylum or otherwise engage with French authorities, and not attempt dangerous journeys to the UK.We are fully committed to transferring the specified number of 480 unaccompanied children under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 as soon as possible. We are working closely with participating States and with relevant partners such as the UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs to ensure the safe transfer of children referred by each State to the UK. Over 220 children are already here and transfers are ongoing. We will not provide a running commentary on numbers.

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 124948, on Doctors: Migrant Workers, how many representations on doctors from overseas being prevented from working in the NHS on account of immigration rules relating to their salaries her department has received; and from which organisations those representations were received.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office receives a high volume of representations on a variety of subjects relating to immigration on a daily basis. It is not possible to provide a running count of the number of representations on a particular topic.

Immigrants: Employment

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2018 to Question 110181, on Immigrants: Employment, how many people have been found not to have a right to work in the UK by her Department in response to queries from or on behalf of (a) employers or (b) employees in each of the last three years.

Caroline Nokes: This data is not held centrallly and to obtain it would exceed the disproptionate cost threshold.

Drugs: Misuse

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the implications are for the Government's drugs policy of the decision to grant new licences to pharmaceutical companies to grow and process medicinal cannabis for exportation to other countries.

Mr Nick Hurd: Controlled drugs licences are issued in accordance with Government policy. No licences for pharmaceutical companies to grow and process medicinal cannabis for exportation to other countries have been issued.

Home Office: Internet

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of her Department’s cloud-hosting contracts have been awarded to (a) hyperscale cloud providers and (b) UK SMEs; and what the value of those contracts was in each of the last three years.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has a number of cloud hosting contracts, with a variety of service providers.It is our policy to award contracts on the basis of value for money, whilst doing everything we can to encourage UK suppliers, and UK SME's in particular, to win business. This is achieved through competitive tender in accordance with public procurement legislation.The Home Office actively encourages SMEs to bid for Government contracts and where applicable include relevant clauses in our terms and conditions and tender process to encourage UK suppliers to use SMEs within their supply chain.The Home Office has a number of cloud hosting contracts with hypercloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Oracle Fusion and Microsoft Azure, as well as contracts with Vodafone, DXC, SCC and UKCloud. The Department has a number of smaller hosting contracts, with a wide variety of UK-based and we utilise the services of other hosting providers through our extended service integrator supplier base.

Crimes of Violence: Acids

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement her commitment in October 2017 to ban the carrying of acid in public without good reason.

Victoria Atkins: The consultation on legislative proposals on offensive and dangerous weapons closed on 9 December 2017 and this included a proposal to make it an offence to possess a corrosive substance in a public place without good reason.We are currently considering the responses to the consultation and we will publish a summary of the consultation responses shortly. Legislative measures arising from the consultation will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.

Police: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate (a) the National Police Chiefs Council and (b) the  Association of Police and Crime Commissioners have made of (i) cost pressures and (ii) inflation in 2018-19 in their representations to her Department.

Mr Nick Hurd: The joint APCC and NPCC representations included estimates of £209m for inflation and £38m for cost pressures. We have responded positively by providing a strong and comprehensive settlement that will increase funding by up to £450m across the police system for 2018/19. This will enable an increase of up to £270m in funding going directly to PCCs.

Scotland Office

Agriculture: Migrant Workers

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with NFU Scotland on the employment of EU agricultural workers after the UK leaves the EU.

David Mundell: I am in regular contact with NFU Scotland on a wide range of issues affecting the agriculture sector in Scotland, including the employment of EU agricultural workers, and am due to meet them again in the coming weeks.

Scotland Office: Fairtrade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what proportion of his Department's spend on day-to-day goods comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not have canteen facilities. The only expenditure on food is purchases for occasional events and receptions. The Scotland Office does not keep separate records of the spending on fair trade products. Spending on food follows Government policy on sustainability and Fair Trade.

Scotland Office: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will list the organisations that his Department has outsourced functions to since 2011.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has not outsourced any functions since 2011.

Scotland Office: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what percentage of workers employed directly by his Department belonged to a trade union in each of the last five years for which data is available.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly; all staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other Government bodies. The Scotland Office does not hold information on trade union membership.

Scotland Office: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were directly employed on zero-hours contracts by his Department in each of the last eight years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office do not directly employ staff. All staff that join are on assignment, loan or secondment predominantly from the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government or are employed on an Agency basis. No staff working in the Scotland Office are employed on a zero-hours contract.

Scotland Office: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department worked in (a) departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) in any other location in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

David Mundell: All Scotland Office staff work from departmental accommodation. In the last five years, no formal contracts were issued to staff that would set their work location to home or any other location. However, Scotland Office managers consider any flexible working request objectively and with sensitivity, and treat all applicants equally and fairly. We have staff who make use of informal flexible options such as working from home.

Sexual Offences: Scotland

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Scottish Government on the effectiveness of the provisions relating to up-skirting in the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 and (b) Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of bringing forward such legislative proposals for England and Wales.

David Mundell: The Scottish Government is responsible for criminal justice in Scotland. Ministry of Justice officials engage regularly with colleagues in the Scottish Government on a broad range of criminal justice issues, has included upskirting, sharing information and best practice as appropriate. I am also in regular discussion with the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice on such matters.

Local Growth Deals: Ayrshire

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings he has had with whom and on what dates on the Ayrshire Growth Deal.

David Mundell: I have met on a number of occasions with the Ayrshire Partners, stakeholders and locally elected representatives to progress the proposed Ayrshire Growth Deal. On the 12th of January I met with Council Chief Executives and leaders of the proposed Ayrshire Growth deal to discuss ways to support the future growth of Ayrshire’s economy. My officials continue to engage with UK Government Departments across Whitehall, the Scottish Government and the Ayrshire partners to further develop their proposition.

Local Growth Deals: Scottish Borders

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings he has had with whom and on what dates on the Borderland Growth Deal.

David Mundell: I have met on a number of occasions with the Borderlands Partners, stakeholders and locally elected representatives to progress the Borderlands Growth Deal. My officials continue to engage with UK Government Departments across Whitehall, the Scottish Government and the Borderlands partners to further develop their proposition.

HM Treasury

Personal Income: Crawley

Henry Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if will make an assessment of the effect of recent increases in the National Living Wage and the personal allowance on the personal incomes of residents of Crawley.

Mel Stride: The government is committed to supporting working families and ensuring they retain more of what they earn. Following increases to the personal allowance threshold and National Living Wage that will come into effect across the UK from April, a full-time worker earning the National Living Wage in Crawley will be taking home over £3,800 more per year after tax compared to a full-time minimum wage worker in 2010.

British Airways: Taxation

Jared O'Mara: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many audits have been carried out by HMRC on British Airways in relation to its pilots' time away from base allowance in the last five years.

Mel Stride: The administration of the tax system, including where appropriate the repayment of tax or duties, is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury Ministers to become involved in specific cases.

Water Companies: Tax Havens

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has been made of the amount of dividends paid by water companies to overseas tax havens in each of the last five years.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs are unable to provide the requested information.

LINK Interchange Network: Disadvantaged

Simon Hoare: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with (a) LINK and (b) the Payment Systems Regulator on guarantees for protections proposed in LINK’s Financial Inclusion Programme.

John Glen: Treasury ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. This includes regular meetings with regulators to discuss relevant issues, including ATM provision. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Simon Hoare: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) long-term and (b) short-term effect of LINK’s proposals to reduce the interchange fee on the free-to-use ATM network; and what estimate has been made of the number of ATMs that will be affected by that reduction.

Mel Stride: The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. Government will continue to engage with industry to ensure that widespread free access is maintained. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), which Government set up as an independent regulator in 2015 with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users, is monitoring developments within ATM provision, and is conducting ongoing work on the impact that changes may have. The PSR has recently published a summary of their work to date, which can be found at https://www.psr.org.uk/psr-focus/the-UK-ATM-network. The PSR has committed to using its powers to act should any of the firms it regulates behave in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives. LINK, the main scheme behind the UK’s ATM network, has assured us and the PSR that industry is committed to maintaining an extensive network of free-to-use cash machines, and to ensuring that the present geographical spread of ATMs is maintained. LINK has announced plans to bolster its Financial Inclusion Programme, which ensures the provision of ATMs in certain areas where demand would not otherwise make one viable. LINK has also committed to protecting all free-to-use ATMs which are a kilometre or more from the next nearest free-to-use ATM, and to ensuring that any community that loses ATM access because of a branch closure has a free ATM provided. In addition, LINK will set up publicly available monitoring on its website of every area of the country showing free ATM availability, and highlight any areas where free ATM availability is lost.

Revenue and Customs: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will meet the hon. Member for Dudley North and representatives of HMRC staff based at the Waterfront in Dudley to discuss the future of their office.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has approached the hon. Member for Dudley North to offer a visit to the HMRC office in Brierley Hill. I understand he has accepted the offer and will be going there in the next few weeks, where HMRC officials will be on hand to answer his questions.

Tax Havens

Faisal Rashid: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merit of the introduction of favourable financial grants to rebuild and diversify the economies of tax havens that are conditional on benchmarks on (a) transparency, (b) accountability and (c) cooperation to tackle offshore tax avoidance and evasion.

Mel Stride: The Government has no plans to introduce such grants. The UK supports international efforts to tackle aggressive tax avoidance and evasion, and supports lists of non-co-operative jurisdictions for tax purposes in the OECD and EU to encourage jurisdictions to comply with relevant international tax standards. The UK also supports capacity building programmes to help jurisdictions implement these standards, including through the OECD’s Global Forum, the OECD’s Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, and a dedicated capacity building unit in HMRC.

Tax Havens: Withholding Tax

Faisal Rashid: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits for tackling offshore tax avoidance and evasion of the imposition of a withholding tax on all interest and dividend payments to people and companies in tax havens which reject reform.

Mel Stride: Government has taken significant steps to tackle multinational avoidance. That includes the introduction of the diverted profits tax, which raised over £280 million in 2016/17, and a restriction on the deductibility of corporate interest, which is estimated to raise £1 billion per annum. It also includes measures to extend UK withholding tax on royalties paid to low-tax jurisdictions The UK continues to engage with international efforts to improve adherence to international tax standards, including through the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions which was agreed by EU Finance Ministers in December last year.

Charitable Donations: Stamp Duty Land Tax

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received a relief from Stamp Duty Land Tax on transfers to charities in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received group relief from Stamp Duty Land Tax in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received a relief from Stamp Duty Land Tax on transfers to registered social landlords in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from Stamp Duty Land Tax on transfers involving multiple dwellings in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The table below shows the number of land and property transactions which claimed relief from Stamp Duty Land Tax for each of the requested categories. A single transaction can be made by one or more individuals, or one or more non-natural persons. Estimates of the number of transactions claiming reliefs from SDLTa) 2015-16b) 2016-17c) April 2017 to October 2017Transfers to charities8,3009,4005,800Group relief6,9007,4004,300Transfers to registered social landlords2,2002,3001,300Transfers involving multiple dwellings6,1006,4003,200

Rents: VAT Exemptions

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people were exempt from value added tax on rent on domestic dwellings in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received an exemption from value added tax on supplies of commercial property in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received an exemption from value added tax on education in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received an exemption from value added tax on health services in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The details that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collects from taxpayers on their VAT returns are not specific enough to provide the number of people benefiting from this relief. HMRC does not require this level of detail because it would place a considerable administrative burden on businesses.

Postal Services: VAT Exemptions

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received an exemption from value added tax on postal services in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: In the UK, only the Royal Mail are able to apply the exemption from value added tax on postal services. The details that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collects from taxpayers on their VAT returns are not specific enough to provide the number of people benefiting from this relief. HMRC does not require this level of detail because it would place a considerable administrative burden on businesses.

Brexit

Andrew Percy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department expects that the UK will be classed as a third country after the UK leaves the EU; and whether people travelling from the EU to the UK will be able to purchase duty free goods.

Mel Stride: Future customs arrangements are dependent on the outcome of the negotiations with the EU. The Government has been clear that as we leave the EU we will also leave the EU customs union, and that the UK’s future customs arrangements should be as frictionless as possible. The issues around duty free are complex, with a range of possible approaches. At this stage the Government cannot make assumptions about the tax rules at the EU border, or pre-empt the outcome of negotiations.

Cryptocurrencies

Andrew Percy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the regulation of cryptocurrency markets.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Alcoholic Drinks and Tobacco: Excise Duties

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the tax gap was on (a) beer, (b) wine, (c) spirits and (d) tobacco in the financial tax years (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15, (iii) 2015-16 and (iv) 2016-2017; and what steps he is taking to tackle those tax gaps.

Mel Stride: The tax gap for (a) beer, (b) wine, (c) spirits in the financial tax years (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15, (iii) 2015-16 is available in Chapter 3 of ‘Measuring Tax Gaps 2017’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/655097/HMRC-measuring-tax-gaps-2017.pdf. Estimates for the alcohol tax gaps for 2016-17 will be published in due course. The tax gap was for tobacco tax all financial years including 2016-17 is available in ‘Tobacco tax gap estimates 2016-17’, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tobacco-tax-gap-estimates. There are two strategies in place to tackle these tax gaps: one for alcohol, and one for tobacco. The HM Revenue and Customs Alcohol Strategy is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-alcohol-strategy. This is designed to tackle all forms of fraud throughout the supply chain, working with other enforcement agencies and industry. Measures to tackle alcohol duty fraud include:Full implementation of Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme on 1 April 2017. This requires businesses to meet rigorous standards to receive approval from HMRC in order to trade. Where standards are not met approval may be refused or revoked.The Joint Alcohol Anti-fraud Taskforce, which brings together the alcohol industry and law enforcement agenciesSharing HMRC data with alcohol producers to restrict access by fraudsters to UK-sensitive brands, and the introduction of a ‘due diligence’ condition requiring traders to consider the risk of excise duty evasion in their supply chains. For tobacco, HMRC’s strategy is detailed in “Tackling illicit tobacco: From leaf to light”, a joint publication with Border Force, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418732/Tackling_illicit_tobacco_-_From_leaf_to_light__2015_.pdf. This strategy aims to:• Create a hostile global environment for tobacco fraud through intelligence sharing and policy change.• Tackle the fraud at all points in the supply chain from production to retail.• Change perceptions - Raising public awareness of the links between illicit tobacco and organised criminality to reduce tolerance of the fraud in the UK.Optimise the use of the sanctions available and, where necessary, develop tougher ones.

Royal Bank of Scotland: Small Businesses

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to respond to the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority report on RBS treatment of small businesses recently published by the Treasury Select Committee.

John Glen: The investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) treatment of small and medium-sized enterprise customers transferred to its Global Restructuring Group is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent of Government. It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further while the FCA’s investigation is ongoing.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many parents have opened and then closed a tax-free childcare account since that policy was introduced.

Elizabeth Truss: 7,656 Tax-Free Childcare accounts have been closed since the scheme launched in April 2017.

Revenue and Customs: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the transfer of staff employed by HMRC at its Waterfront offices in Dudley to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Ian Austin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what alternatives to redundancy his Department has considered for staff employed by HMRC at its Waterfront offices in Dudley.

Ian Austin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse will be of making staff employed by HMRC at its Waterfront offices in Dudley redundant.

Mel Stride: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.HMRC intends to retain the skills, knowledge and experience of everyone who wishes to continue their career with HMRC and if necessary re-skill to take on a new role, new work and/or move to a new office.

Child Care Vouchers

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126730 and the oral evidence of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the Treasury Committee on Childcare on 31 January 2018, HC 757, if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) £220 million per year administration costs and (b) any other operating costs associated with the childcare voucher scheme.

Elizabeth Truss: £220 million is the estimated cost to government of the employer National Insurance relief on Employer Supported Childcare. That relief does not go directly to parents to help with the cost of childcare, but to employers, and the voucher providers they use, to administer the schemes. Government does not hold details about the administration costs incurred by employers for childcare voucher schemes.

Burial and Cremation: VAT

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received an exemption from VAT on burial and cremation in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received an exemption from value added tax on finance and insurance in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received an exemption from value added tax on betting and gaming and lottery duties in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The details that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collects from taxpayers on their VAT returns are not specific enough to provide the number of people benefiting from this relief. HMRC does not require this level of detail because it would place a considerable administrative burden on businesses.

Listed Buildings: VAT

Lee Rowley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a VAT exception for goods and services required for the (a) repair, (b) maintenance and (c) renovations of Grade II listed buildings used for (i) community and (ii) religious events.

Mel Stride: EU VAT rules do not allow the introduction of a reduced rate or exemption for goods and services supplied exclusively for the repair, maintenance and renovations of Grade II listed buildings used for community and religious events. While the UK remains a member of the EU, we will continue to abide by our rights and obligations.

Small Businesses: VAT

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many small traders received an exemption from value added tax below the turnover limit for VAT registration in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on traders that have not registered for VAT. They have not registered with HMRC and do not submit VAT returns.

NHS Trusts: VAT

Dr David Drew: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which NHS trusts have made representations to his Department to seek advice on varying their VAT payments either directly or through the transference of some staff into a subsidiary company.

Mel Stride: HMRC do not comment on individual taxpayers. HMRC does not give advice on how any taxpayer organises their affairs: it is HMRC’s role to collect the taxes that are legally due, including VAT.

Public Sector: Redundancy Pay

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the merits of implementing a cap on public sector exit payments.

Elizabeth Truss: We are committed to ending six figure exit payments for public sector workers. We have legislated in the last parliament for a £95,000 cap and are currently in the process of drafting the necessary regulations to be laid in parliament. To ensure the successful implementation of these changes, a consultation will be brought forward in the next few months.

Treasury: Internet

James Gray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of his Department’s cloud-hosting contracts have been awarded to (a) hyperscale cloud providers and (b) UK SMEs; and what the value of those contracts was in each of the last three years.

Robert Jenrick: It is our policy to award contracts on the basis of value for money, whilst doing everything we can to encourage UK suppliers, and UK SME's in particular, to win business. This is achieved through competitive tender in accordance with public procurement legislation. The department has seven cloud-hosting contracts, of which five have been awarded to UK SMEs and zero have been awarded to hyperscale providers. The total value of the contracts awarded to SMEs is £162,256.

Tax Avoidance: International Cooperation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many countries the UK has made arrangements with to provide automatic offshore account and trust data since 2016.

Mel Stride: The UK is committed to automatic exchange of offshore account data with 102 jurisdictions under multilateral and bilateral arrangements.

Black Economy

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of workers employed in the UK shadow economy.

Mel Stride: HMRC has not made any estimate of the number of workers in the shadow economy but has recently published research which focused on the hidden economy. The full research report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/654905/P11533_HE_Final_report_MASTER_draft_v6_0_PC_FINAL.PDF  The government is committed to achieving a significant and sustained narrowing of the hidden economy tax gap (the difference between the receipts actually collected and the amount of tax that should be collected if all taxpayers complied with the letter and spirit of the law). In recent years, there has been an increased focus on tackling the hidden economy using new data and smarter compliance work. To ensure that it becomes increasingly difficult for businesses to hide their income, the government has introduced new targeted data gathering powers, supporting interventions to prevent and respond to non-compliance. It has also invested in HMRC to recruit additional hidden economy investigators to make use of these new data streams and to combat this risk effectively.

EU Grants and Loans

Luke Graham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish further details on the setting up of a UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government has committed to launch the UK Shared Prosperity Fund after the UK leaves the EU, using money returning to the UK from European structural funds. The Industrial Strategy White Paper announced that the Government would launch a consultation this year.

Public Sector: Redundancy Pay

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to launch the consultation on a maximum limit of £95,000 on public sector exit payments.

Elizabeth Truss: We are committed to ending six figure exit payments for public sector workers. We have legislated in the last parliament for a £95,000 cap and are currently in the process of drafting the necessary regulations to be laid in parliament. To ensure the successful implementation of these changes, a consultation will be brought forward in the next few months.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Departmental Responsibilities

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the responsibilities of the Minister for the Constitution, what the term government communications refers to.

Chloe Smith: Government communications is a function within the civil service. It includes media relations, campaigns and marketing, digital communication and internal communication. Its purpose is to support the delivery of public services, the implementation of policy, to promote the UK globally and to explain government priorities and decisions.

General Elections: Disclosure of Information

John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether this office's General Election Guidance has been reviewed the light of the High Court’s ruling of 27 April 2017 regarding purdah periods; and if he will issue further guidance on responding to requests for information and other enquiries during general election campaigns to Departments and government agencies.

Chloe Smith: It is standard practice after an election for the Cabinet Office to reflect on how the election guidance operated in practice, and to consider amendments to the guidance in light of such practice. Updated guidance will be published in advance of the next General Election.

Employment: North West

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the number of insecure jobs in (a) the North West and (b) Liverpool Walton constituency.

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in Liverpool Walton constituency are employed on zero-hour contracts.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 145.29 KB)

Public Bodies

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 31 of his Department's document, Public Bodies 2017, published in November 2017, for what reason his Department does not anticipate major changes in the number of bodies as a result of leaving the European union; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: In the majority of cases we anticipate that any repatriated EU functions can be absorbed by departments or existing public bodies. This is dependent on the outcome of negotiations with the EU. Officials continue to keep Arms Length Body numbers under review.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, reference to the written statement HCWS464, on 8 February 2018 on the Infected Blood Inquiry, whether the Chair of the inquiry will operate with the support of a Panel.

Chloe Smith: As Minister for the Cabinet Office’s statement of 8 February made clear, the Chair will be consulting on the terms of reference for the Inquiry, and will be seeking views of those affected on whether panel members should sit alongside him. Ministers will then return to Parliament with the final terms of reference, including on the composition of a Panel, as soon as this process has been completed.

Life Expectancy

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish his Department's next set of data on life expectancy.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 70.7 KB)

Debts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the level of household debt for households in each income distribution in each of the last 10 years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 70.19 KB)

Living Wage: Mothers

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127467 on living wage: mothers, whether any data is held on the earnings of women with dependent children.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 66.65 KB)

Occupations

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England are in (i) managerial and (ii) professional occupations.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 149.71 KB)

Carillion: Insolvency

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much of the funding from his Department to underwrite the costs of Carillion’s receiver has been spent to date; and what costs have been covered by that funding.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office has been provided with £150m of funding to underwrite the Official Receiver in respect of Carillion in liquidation in the current financial year. A supplementary estimate was presented to the House for this provision on 7th February 2018.The Official Receiver will be looking to raise funds from recovering trade debts owed to Carillion, settlement of claims owed to Carillion and from the sale of assets. These will be applied in line with statutory duties of the Official Receiver and used to offset funding

Government Departments: Procurement

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect on value for the taxpayer of a small number of large companies dominating the market for tendered government contracts.

Oliver Dowden: The Government awards contracts through fair and open competition, in line with principles of equal treatment, transparency and non-discrimination. To encourage competition and more access by SMEs to government contracts, we now require public buyers to divide contracts into more accessible lots (or explain why not) so that tender requirements can be matched to smaller businesses’ specialisms.

Government Departments: Internet

James Gray: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to encourage UK SMEs and other UK suppliers to win cloud-hosting contracts.

Oliver Dowden: Public sector procurers are required to seek value for money through fair and open competition and in line with our current international obligations.The Government wants UK companies to be successful in public procurement, and we are seeking to ensure the huge purchasing power of government supports the task of boosting growth, and enables us to actively shape the UK market for the long term.

Government Departments: Procurement

Marion Fellows: To ask the First Secretary of State, what the target time is for the Government to make payments to small and medium-sized enterprises; and (a) how many and (b) what percentage of payments by the Government met that target in 2017.

Oliver Dowden: In March 2015 the Government restated its longstanding policy commitment to pay 80% of undisputed and valid invoices within 5 days with the remainder paid within 30 days.Public sector buyers must publish annually on their payment performance. We do not hold centrally the performance data for 2017. However, data published in 2015-16 shows that by the final quarter all major departments, apart from one (at 76%), were meeting their 5 days target and that all departments were paying at least 96% of their invoices within the 30 day target, with several departments achieving 100%.

Labour Market: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date he plans to publish the next statistical update on the labour market status of disabled people.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Politics and Government

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to engage people on low incomes with politics.

Chloe Smith: Engaging people of all backgrounds in politics is a responsibility shared by citizens, Government, political parties, third sector organisations and others.As set out in December 2017 in our democratic engagement plan ‘Every Voice Matters: Building A Democracy That Works For Everyone’ our focus is on increase democratic participation amongst under registered electors. Participation in elections, starting with registration, is one way of engaging people in politics. Our plan includes understanding, and addressing, barriers to inclusion experienced by groups such as young people, ethnic minorities and frequent movers. Income is not in its own right an indicator of registration status, but these other groups may have proportionally lower incomes than groups that are more likely to be registered.We have announced a first ever National Democracy Week to take place from 2-8 July 2018. The Week will see a wide range of democratic engagement activity undertaken aimed at engaging under-registered groups. The flexible, partner-led model will allow all nations to deliver activities appropriate to them and reach a broad range of groups, which may include those on lower incomes.

Department for International Trade

Domestic Visits: Northern Ireland

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times he has visited Northern Ireland since his appointment as Secretary of State for International Trade; and if he will set out the details of any such visits.

Graham Stuart: My Right Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for International Trade, has visited Northern Ireland on two occasions, in August 2016 and more recently in October 2017 to discuss both trade policy and future trade opportunities.

Domestic Visits: North West

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times he has visited (a) St Helens, (b) Merseyside, and (c) the North West since his appointment as Secretary of State for International Trade; and if he will set out the details of any such visits.

Graham Stuart: My Right Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for International Trade, has visited the North West region on two occasions.In November 2016 the Secretary of State visited the Port of Liverpool to officially open the £400m Liverpool2 container terminal. In September 2016, the Secretary of State visited Manchester.Greg Hands, former Minister for Investment, Mark Garnier and Baroness Fairhead have also visited the North West region.

Department for International Trade: Overtime

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many hours of overtime have been worked by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months.

Greg Hands: The below table sets out the number of hours of overtime claimed by staff on the Department for International Trade's payroll working in the United Kingdom over the last 12 months. Hours claimedMonth claimedWeekend/ Bank HolidayOrdinaryGrand TotalFeb-172595597Mar-1714749763Apr-172542544May-174460464Jun-172472474Jul-17 688688Aug-174592596Sep-176628634Oct-174885889Nov-1789961004Dec-1713816829Jan-1815901916Total7483248398

Trade: Statistics

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment his Department has made of recent trends in UK Trade Statistics; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: In 2017, compared with 2016, UK exports of goods and services increased by 11.3% in nominal terms, faster than imports (up 9.3%). As a result the trade deficit narrowed by £7.0bn, to £33.7bn.Data on trade are available from the ONS at:https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/previousReleases

Trade Agreements

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to retain existing trade agreements with non-EU countries after the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: As a priority, we are currently working with the EU and partner countries to ensure continuity of the effects of EU trade agreements with non-EU countries during the Implementation Period.Alongside these discussions, we have engaged with over 70 countries to ensure continuity of trading arrangements beyond the Implementation Period and all partner countries have agreed to work with us to ensure continuity. This is a technical exercise to replicate the effects of current trade agreements.

Department for International Trade: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were directly employed on zero-hours contracts by his Department in each of the last eight years.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade and UK Export Finance do not currently have any full-time, part-time or temporary staff on zero hours contracts, nor have they directly employed any staff on such contracts since the Department was established.

Trade Promotion

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to his oral contribution of 22 February 2018, Official Report, column 305, what the evidential basis is for his statement that the CBI's briefing on the impact of the UK leaving the EU is highly suspect.

Greg Hands: The Government has been clear that it will carry out the will of the people who voted to leave the EU in June 2016. In doing so, DIT is engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including the CBI, to ensure that we maximise the investment and export potential of business across the whole of the UK. This includes setting up a Trade Remedies Authority to protect British business from unfair trading practices, such as dumping and subsidies.

Trade Remedies Authority: Public Appointments

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2018 to Question 126972, on Trade Remedies Authority: Public Appointments, for what reason the proposed chair of the Trade Remedies Authority will not be subject to a pre-appointment hearing by the International Trade Select Committee.

Greg Hands: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 5 February 2018, UIN 126038. We are consulting with the Cabinet Office on conducting public appointments to the Trade Remedies Authority in line with the principles of the Governance Code for Public Appointments. This sets out the process by which public appointments should be made. This guidance is freely available to the public online and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-code-for-public-appointments.

Trade Promotion

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, for each trade envoy (a) what contracts they have helped deliver, (b) how many visits they have each made to their respective countries and (c) the number of times they have had meetings in the Department during the period they have been appointed to that role.

Graham Stuart: The Trade Envoy Programme primarily focuses on helping to facilitate bilateral trade and investment through soft power and fostering relationships in markets to which Trade Envoys are assigned.. In 16/17 Trade Envoys contributed towards £15.5bn in export wins.Annex A provides a breakdown of the number of visits each current Trade Envoy has undertaken since the programme began in 2012.DIT arranges a number of briefing roundtables throughout the year, to update Trade Envoys on departmental priorities. Trade Envoys are also able to use DIT's meeting rooms when receiving official visitors where appropriate. However DIT does not centrally hold information on the number of times they have had internal meetings and it could only be provided at disproportionate cost. 



Annex A - List of visits
(Word Document, 13.66 KB)

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Hate Crime: Internet

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has held with stakeholders on establishing a commissioner to (a) tackle and (b) provide guidance on tackling (i) online hate activity and (ii) cyber bullying.

Margot James: Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with stakeholders on a range of issues, including online hate and abuse. Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

Exercise

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to invest in sporting infrastructure to increase physical activity levels in the UK.

Tracey Crouch: The government's Sporting Future strategy emphasised the important role that well-designed, customer-focused facilities can play in supporting people to get and stay active. Sport England invests National Lottery and Exchequer money to improve the quality and features of all types of facilities, from small local clubs to major projects. Through its Strategic Facilities Fund, Sport England is making up to £40m of National Lottery funding available over 2017-2021 to invest in facilities across England. In January 2017, Sport England launched its Community Asset Fund, which makes awards of between £1,000-£150,000 to support projects that seek to improve or enhance spaces and facilities that help to get communities more active.

Parking: Data Protection

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department takes to ensure that private car park operators are compliant with data protection regulations; and what assessment he has made of the extent of compliance with such regulations in that sector.

Margot James: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for regulating compliance with data protection legislation. The ICO is an independent body sponsored within government by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Government are currently modernising data protection laws in the UK through the Data Protection Bill to make them fit for purpose for our increasingly digital economy and society. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on 25th May 2018. All UK businesses together with all organisations that process personal data will be required to comply with this regulation and also the UK's full data protection regime as set out in the Data Protection Bill. The ICO provides guidance and support to UK organisations and have already published a number of resources on the Commissioner's website (ico.org.uk) to help organisations prepare. The ICO has: launched a dedicated helpline service for smaller organisations; updated its 'SME toolkit' to reflect the requirements of the GDPR; simplified its "12-step" GDPR preparation guidance; and published tailored guidance for charities.

Mobile Phones: Scotland

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve geographic mobile phone coverage in rural areas in Scotland.

Margot James: Commercial roll-out and spectrum licence obligations have led to improved mobile coverage in Scotland. As of June 2017 indoor premises voice coverage in Scotland was 99% from at least one mobile network operator (MNO) and 87% from all four (up 6 percentage points from June 2016). Indoor premises data coverage was 98% from at least one MNO and 82% from all four (up 8 percentage points from June 2016). However, geographic coverage is lower and the Government recognises that there is more to do. That is why we reformed the Electronic Communications Code in 2017,to make it cheaper to install digital infrastructure and this should also benefit rural areas in Scotland. I also welcome the Scottish Government's planning reforms in July 2017 that follow our 2016 reforms in England to support infrastructure rollout. We are committed to having good quality coverage where people live, work and travel and I welcome that Ofcom is considering new licence obligations for rural coverage as part of the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction.

Arts Council England

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many candidates deemed appointable by the most recent appointment panel for the National Council of Arts Council England were not subsequently appointed.

Michael Ellis: The most recent Arts Council appointments campaign was to appoint four Area Chairs (South East Area, South West Area, Midlands Area and North Area) and additional general Council Members to its non-executive Board. Of those who applied for these roles, sixteen candidates were deemed appointable by the Advisory Assessment Panel and from these, ten appointments were subsequently made by Ministers. Six candidates deemed appointable were not appointed to the Arts Council board.

Lotteries: Regulation

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2018 to Question 126140, on Lotteries: Regulation, what the nature of the advice requested by his Department from the Gambling Commission was; what specific policy options his Department are considering; and when his Department plans to come to a conclusion on this issue.

Tracey Crouch: We are carefully considering the issues around society lotteries raised by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and will continue to take advice from the Gambling Commission as we consider policy options. The Government’s response to the Committee’ advised that it intended to explore all their recommendations further. and can be found here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmcumeds/415/415.pdf We hope to conclude considerations and provide an update in due course.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Stuart Andrew: The Wales Office does not have any non-departmental public bodies.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what percentage of workers employed directly by her Department belonged to a trade union in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Mr Shailesh Vara: In 2013/14, 31 members of my department belonged to a trade union.In 2014/15, 29 members of my department belonged to a trade union.At September 2015, 29 members of my department belonged to a trade union. No data is available for subsequent years as from September 2015 trade union deductions were made directly from employees’ bank accounts and not collected through my department’s payroll.

Northern Ireland Office: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many and what percentage of employees in her Department worked in (a) departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) in any other location in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: In my Department all employees work within departmental accommodation and have done so in each of the last 5 years. Employees are free to work occasionally from home or remotely; my Department does not retain records relating this.

Northern Ireland Office: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, which external recruitment agencies are used by her Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Mr Shailesh Vara: My Department has four non-departmental public bodies – the Independent Reporting Commission; the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission; the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As these bodies operate independently of Government, the hon Member may wish to write to the Commissions directly on these matters – contact details are set out below: ALBStatusContact DetailsIndependent Reporting CommissionExecutive NDPBenquiries@IRCommission.orgNorthern Ireland Human Rights CommissionExecutive NDPBinformation@nihrc.orgParades Commission for Northern IrelandExecutive NDPBinfo@paradescommission.orgBoundary Commission for Northern IrelandAdvisory NDPBbcni@belfast.org.uk

Borders: Northern Ireland

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions the Government has had with the Irish Government on preventing a hard border in Northern Ireland.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Northern Ireland Ministers and Government colleagues have regular conversations with the Irish Government on a range of issues, including our commitment to the avoidance of a hard border. In the Joint Report published in December 2017, we reached a balanced set of commitments that reiterate both our commitment to avoid a hard land border, including any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls, and our clear position on preserving the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom.